The Birthday Present
by unoaranya30
Summary: An answer to a request/challenge from a friend at the SMWW Yahoo group. Question: Could there ever be a scenario where Lois would share her husband Clark with Diana? Would Clark & Diana agree? incorporates 3 other challenges.  Mature/drama/humor
1. Chapter 1

The Birthday Present

Prologue

There are a few different kinds of intimate relationships. The most common among humans is the one that takes place between a female and male. Anyplace you visit in the world with a large human population, you will see young, middle aged and elderly couples together.

If you were to sit on a park bench in a large city or on a college campus, in the middle of the day or evening, in, say, New York, Chicago, Miami, Paris, or any number of other cities, big or small, you would see many couples holding hands, embracing, kissing, smiling, talking and engaged in many other little acts that would tell you that theirs is a sexually intimate relationship, or soon to be.

When we see a male and female couple sharing little intimate moments, most of us probably do not look twice. Unless we find the couple to be extra attractive, or perhaps we find them to be very unattractive. Maybe we feel a twinge of jealously that they seem so happy and we are without our soul mate at the moment, or maybe we don't have a soul mate at the moment.

When a sexual connection is made between a woman and a man, a little piece of the heart is forever surrendered. Two hearts become one, two souls are entwined. Often an unspoken vow is made. Although in many cases the vow is actually made before hand.

The unspoken vow goes something like this…

_I have opened up and given myself exclusively to you, in a way that I have with no other. Now that I am yours and you are mine, I will look at no other. I want only you._

Quite often the vow is made very plain. Marriage is such a promise. Bonding with the one you love publicly. Both man and woman promise to be exclusively faithful to one another until death, in the presence of God and many witnesses.

Some keep their vows until death. Some do not.

There are some who think exclusive sexual relationships are too restricting. To be perfectly honest the majority of these are male but there are quite a good number of women who fall into this group, much to the delight of the men.

There are even communities of people and some cultures where men will share their wives. This is referred to as wife swapping or swinging, although swinging can also include the sharing of the husband by the wife.

There are other cases where the man has more than one woman. Mormans are strong proponents of this practice, as are Muslims. Many rich Muslims have harems to this day and all are allowed up to four wives. This doesn't mean that they all have four wives but they are allowed to have them if they so desire.

Others don't bother trying to get any legal rights to such relationships. They simply have another girlfriend or girlfriends, on the side. Interestingly, it has been shown, that men who tend to have multiple wives, or harems, or women on the side, also tend to be more selfish and much less giving. Some believe that they have given away so many pieces of their heart to different people, that there isn't enough left to give and so they become callus to the feelings of the woman or women they are intimate with and take their pleasure from.

There is an even smaller population of individuals who live in a polyamorous relationship. The creator of Wonder Woman was such a man. William Moulton Marston was married to Elizabeth Holloway Marston and both lived with Olive Bryne, his girlfriend. It seems the three lived together in harmony and both ladies greatly influenced the creation of the character of Wonder Woman.

So, of those who do not have exclusive relationships with one man or one woman, there are three groups that I find of interest. The men that have several wives or concubines, generally the women have little say in these situations. The men who cheat on their wives or girlfriends, the women have little say in this since the man is cheating, but when he is found out, well that is a different story. And finally the men who have more than one willing partner. Yes. Us guys call them threesomes. This is part of an unattainable dream for most men. But it is still a dream.

The question is posed something like this.

"Hey baby, if I were to have another girlfriend, would it be cool if she had sex with us?'

Or…

"You know, I've been thinking. Maybe we should invite Tamara over for a sleepover. What do you think?"

Maybe…

"Baby! You seem exhausted! If you want, I'll give you a break. Yolanda has been offering to have sex with me whenever you aren't able. Is that cool?"

Clark Kent is none of these last examples. He is very much a "faithful until death do us part, one woman," kind of man.

Lois Lane-Kent is very much a, keep your hands and eyes off my man, sort of woman.

Diana would never in a thousand years dream of breaking up her best friends marriage.

Maxima would do anything to make Superman her mate.

Circe would do anything to hurt Wonder Woman.


	2. Chapter 2

The Birthday Present

Chapter 1

Hal Jordan Is Not a Pig

"You are a beautiful man, Hal Jordan. You are tall, and strong and fearless. I think I could fall in love with such a man. Would you like to fall in love with me?"

Hal stared unbelieving, at Wonder Woman. He could not believe what he was hearing. He had always suspected that she and Superman were in love, the way they looked at each other, the way they spoke to one another and about one another. They seemed to act and think as one.

Whenever they were in battle, the two of them fought like a well-oiled machine. They seemed able to read each other's thoughts and could act without hesitation, knowing the other understood their actions. Their connection on the mental and emotional level was simply amazing. They simply lacked the physical connection to make them complete.

He always wondered why he, or others in the league, as far as he knew, had never seen them holding hands, kissing or touching in any way that would indicate that they had finally moved on from, hopelessly in love friends to lovers. Sure, they had all seen some tender, physical moments between the two, but their touch had been timid and chaste. They had been maddeningly careful not to cross a line.

The rest of the League, with the exceptions of J'onn, Batman and Zatanna, constantly talked and whispered about how crazy the two were. What the hell were they waiting for? They were best of friends, they could finish each other's sentences, whenever one was not present, a deep sadness could be seen in the others eyes. There was absolutely no question in anyone's mind that they were in love. All the signs were obvious. And yet they wouldn't take the next step.

Hal had been completely shocked when he had learned just last week that Superman was married, and not to Diana.

The news had been quite shocking. It had also made everything he had witnessed between the two make perfect sense.

It also meant that she was fair game. Hal wanted a chance. But he didn't know how he would go about it. He didn't want to offend her or Superman for that matter.

Maybe when they were done with their mission. It seemed that Circe was up to mischief. According to Diana, she had taken Ares as her lover and had promised him that she would humiliate and destroy Wonder Woman. She also planned on humiliating the Amazons as a nation.

Queen Hippolyta had allowed Diana and the League to come to Paradise Island to investigate and use their considerable powers and resources in an attempt to discover what Circe was up to.

Hal had been stationed high above the island. It was his job to scan all parts of the island with his ring. If he detected any signs of magic he was to contact the others immediately.

Hal had no problem with his assignment. Superman may have been better for it, what with his super peepers and ears and nose, but he was down at Doom's Door with Wonder Woman and a company of Amazons, just in case the attack came from there.

Aquaman, Mera and one thousand soldiers of Atlantis were spread out in the waters surrounding the island and Amazons gathered on the beaches prepared for any kind of attack from the sea.

Fellow Green Lantern's John and Kyle waited at the edge of the enchanted forest with another host of Amazon warriors.

Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Powergirl, Geo-force and Jade, along with one hundred Amazons, waited by the small mountain range south of the Palace.

The Flash, Donna, Zatanna, Batman and J'onn were at the Palace with the Queen and her general Phillipus. The Queen, Phillipus and Batman were discussing strategy and options. Zatanna was trying to detect any large concentration of magic in the area. This was difficult for her since much of the Island was magical in nature. J'onn focused on trying to sense the minds of their enemy. Donna did not want to let her mother out of her sight. The Flash waited impatiently for the go ahead to go into action.

Hal knew everyone was in place. His ring told him so. He couldn't see Doom's Door at the moment, but for some reason it didn't seem too important. Diana was talking to him.

As badly as he wanted to get her into his bed, as a friend he refused to give in to his normal tactics of seduction. He knew instinctively, that if he were ever to have her in his bed it would have to be because she loved him and thought that he loved her too.

While Hal had no problem convincing a woman to surrender herself to him for a night of sexual bliss, he had never pretended to be in love in order to have sex. He had always been honest in his desires and passions.

Many women had come back for more and Hal had been more than happy to comply. He had a very large sexual appetite and he was a skilled lover.

This was different. This was not a pretty face he had run into at a club or on the beach. This was his friend. She was a friend who was new to the world of men. She came from an island of fearless Amazon warriors. She was a friend whose mother and sister Amazons had been betrayed, captured and brutally raped by Heracles and his men.

Wonder Woman was also much stronger than he. Hal had no super strength or speed. He was just a normal guy gifted with a power ring. According to the Guardians, it was the most powerful weapon in the universe.

Hal didn't believe it. His ring couldn't defeat Superman or J'onn. In fact, he had found it to be pretty much useless against any of the handful of Kryptonians that frequented the Watchtower.

He had held his own for quite a while against Wonder Woman in the past, but victory had ultimately been hers. While he was confident in a battle against her he was not so confident that he would survive a sexual encounter with a woman who could lift cars and trucks and stop falling helicopters.

But he was very willing to try. Maybe he would even fall in love with her and she with him. His wild days would be over.

He felt sad, as the thought of becoming exclusive to one woman danced in his head. He wasn't sure if that was something he could do. It was one of the many reasons he had never proposed to anyone before. He didn't want to make a commitment he wasn't sure he could keep.

Hal was brought back to the present by a lovely hand touching his ring hand and another touching his face. He looked down into Diana's eyes. He had always thought she had lovely sea blue eyes.

That was strange. For some reason they didn't look blue right now. They looked violet. Hal thought it curious but his mind couldn't focus.

Diana was standing so close to him now, her face was just inches away from his. She had such lovely violet eyes. He could feel her lips brushing against his and he could hear and understand what she was saying but all he could see were her eyes now.

He felt lost in them. He felt as if he were detached from his body.

"I want you to teach me what it is to be loved by a man. Superman refuses me, but I know that you will not and that you are a skilled lover. I have heard the women who boast of having spent a night with you. I want you to show me your skills. Kiss me and make me a true woman."

"Well, I can kiss you now if you like, but you'll have to wait for me to make you a woman for a little while longer. Right now I…I have to…" Hal was speaking thickly his mind couldn't seem to focus. He could see Diana's violet eyes and wondered if this meant that he was in love.

"What must we wait for? What are you doing?" Diana brought his face down to hers and kissed him tenderly and deeply.

Hal felt like he was burning. He also felt like he was shrinking. That or Diana was getting larger. That was strange. He was standing in the palm of her hand and she didn't look like Diana anymore.

His head was swimming. He realized that he no longer had his ring on his finger. He was suddenly standing on a hillside. Diana was nowhere to be seen. There was lots of green grass and just at the bottom of the hill there was a forest.

He hurried down. He was certain that he would be able to find food there. Just as he reached the edge of the forest he saw a large wolf emerge several yards away. The wolf saw him and immediately ran silently towards him.

With a frightened squeal, the small pig sped away as fast as his little legs could carry him.


	3. Chapter 3

The Birthday Present

Chapter Two

Okay. Whatever, But Kyle and John Aren't Pigs and Amazons Are Fearless Warriors

John and Kyle were intently monitoring the edge of the enchanted forest, their rings constantly scanning for danger. This was a difficult task since they were scanning for danger of a magical nature and the enchanted forest was, by its very nature, magical.

The forest was filled with mythological and magical creatures, some more dangerous than others. A few of these approached the edge of the forest to investigate the large body of Amazon warriors and the two strange men that glowed green like the leaves and the grass. None had ventured out of the forest.

Kyle and John both noticed that something was amiss almost simultaneously. Kyle turned to check with John and found himself face to face with Jade.

"Whoa. How'd you get here so fast, gorgeous? I thought you were supposed to be over by the mountain range waiting for the nasty witch to attack." Kyle could hear warning bells going off in his head. He knew it had to do with Hal, but after looking into Jennie's eyes he was having trouble thinking of anything other than her.

Kyle felt lucky to have such a beautiful, smart, gifted and green girlfriend. They had so many things in common outside of their superheroing. He never tired of her company, of her wit and of course, her beauty. Her flawless green skin, dark green hair and bright green eyes always made him melt.

"I came back here to be with you. I hate being on a mission with you and not be able to be by your side. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are together. So are Geo-force and Powergirl and Batman and Zatanna, Flash and Donna and of course Superman and Wonder Woman." Jade pressed herself to Kyle sensuously.

Kyle smiled to himself. She couldn't get enough of him. He was flattered but felt it important to point out an obvious flaw in her list. "Supes and Wondy are together but they are not a couple remember? And I don't remember Flash and Donna being an item."

Jade pulled away from him with a shocked look on her face. For a moment her face seemed just a little wrong. "They're not couples? That is very interesting."

She seemed thoughtful for a moment, "Well. They should be. Anyone looks at them would think that they are a couple."

As she mused Kyle felt like there was an important thought about Hal forming in his mind. Was Hal missing? He couldn't see him on his scans? Was that it? Maybe Jade could take his spot with John and he could go check on his friend.

He looked up at Jade. She was staring at him again. Her lovely green eyes bored into his. It was kind of strange. Her eyes actually looked violet today. Maybe it was the island or maybe she was wearing contacts. That must be it. Contacts. They were very popular with the ladies, Kyle thought, satisfied with his deductive reasoning. Jade was talking to him. Her voice seemed so melodious today. She was standing molded right to him. She smelled beautiful and her violet eyes were staring into his and he felt lost.

"…go with me into the woods? We could find a nice quiet spot where no one would be able to find us or bother us." She was whispering into his ear.

"O…Okay, Jennie." Kyle leaned down and kissed Jennie. She always felt so right. He couldn't understand why she also felt so wrong this time. Jennie was kissing him back deeply. Kyle felt his whole body tingling strangely.

He pulled away from Jennie and noticed somewhat absentmindedly that she was holding two power rings in her hand and she seemed a little different. He was pretty sure she didn't need a power ring. At the same time he noticed that the Amazons were running away, most without their weapons. This didn't seem to bother him too much.

He turned back to look at Jennie. He didn't see her, but then he didn't remember why he was looking for her. There was no reason to; she was over at the mountain range anyway. No reason for him to expect her here.

What he really wanted to do was run into the forest and look for some food. He felt very hungry.

As Kyle approached the edge of the forest he saw a little pig racing towards him along the tree line. The pig seemed familiar. He raced towards him squealing and grunting a salutation. Just before he reached the familiar looking pig a large wolf came into view. It was in hot pursuit of his friend, the pig.

With a squeal of terror he spun around and the two little pigs raced away from the wolf as fast as they could.

John enjoyed working with Kyle. He was a kind hearted young man with a powerful imagination. He had saved nearly everyone in the league at one time or another and he hadn't been in the league for very long. He wasn't nearly the fearless man that Hal was, nor did he have the military training or discipline that he had but he had plenty of heart and courage and he could come up with the most amazing constructs.

Unlike Hal, Ollie, Roy and a few others, Kyle did not suffer from a wandering eye. He was deeply in love with Jennie, and she alone turned his head.

John smiled to himself. He certainly wasn't a ladies man either. Oh, he noticed the other league beauties, and there were many, but he had a wonderfully beautiful and powerful girlfriend and he was more than satisfied. He would have liked if Batman, Black Canary and J'onn had allowed Mari to join them on this mission to Themyscira. It would have been nice to share and experience this lush tropical and breathtaking island with her.

John's pleasant thoughts were interrupted. Something was wrong. His ring told him that Hal was no longer in contact with them. He sensed that Kyle had also noticed this.

He turned to consult him and came face to face with Mari.

Surprised he asked, "Mari. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be monitoring back at the Watchtower."

Mari smiled, "I got tired of monitoring everyone. I would rather just monitor you." She looked hungrily at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck drawing his face down to hers.

John was tense. Something was wrong with this. As much as he would love to kiss Mari he wasn't convinced that she was in her right mind. She would not endanger her teammates or the mission just to make out with him.

She grabbed his ring hand and rubbed it along her face and stared at him with her big, lovely, honey brown eyes…No. They were violet. Why were they violet?

John pushed away from her holding her at arms length, "You aren't Mari! You're…"

Mari laughed. Her laugh made a chill run down his spine. All pretenses were dropped. Circe stood before him.

John shouted, "Circe is here!" and raised his ring hand to begin battle only to find that he no longer had his ring.

"Looking for this," Circe held up her hand showing him his ring. John saw two other rings in her hand as well. "Or maybe this," she held up his com-link.

John threw himself at her. Just because he didn't have a power ring didn't mean he was helpless. He was a Marine. He didn't have Batman's or Nightwing's fighting skills, but there were precious few other nonpowered members of the League who could best him in hand-to-hand combat.

Circe laughed at John's futile attempt to save face. With a wave of her hand she sent him crashing to the ground gasping for breath.

She knelt down next to him as he struggled for air. "I could easily take control of your mind if I wanted to," she teased him. "I could even make you into any animal of my choice. But you were a little sharper than your two friends. I think that I will leave you as you are. No ring, no communicator, no friends to come to your rescue. Your company of Amazons runs away in terror. Is it not sad? They are usually such fierce warriors."

"W.. What did y…you d…do to them?" John struggled to wheeze out the words, "Where's Kyle? Where's Hal?"

"Ah, of course. The lovely Amazons are running away in terror from a vicious army of evil men and your friends are running away from one of my lovers pets. See. Here they come. If you hurry maybe you can let the wolf eat you instead of them." Circe laughed again. The laugh was deeply musical and terrifying.

John found that he could again breathe. He looked up. He could still hear Circe laughing but she had disappeared. He looked down the hill and saw two little pigs running away from the largest wolf he had ever seen. Looking down the other side of the hill he could see the rapidly retreating forms of the terrified Amazons running towards the Palace. He saw that most had left their weapons strewed across the ground.

John stooped and grabbed a sword belt, a shield and a long spear then raced down the hill to face the pet of the god of war and give his life, if need be, for his friends.


	4. Chapter 4

The Birthday Present

Chapter Three

See. I was right. That's it. No More Pigs.

Batman looked up at J'onn and Zatanna, "We've lost communication with all three of our Lanterns. Can you reach them J'onn?"

J'onn reached out focusing on Hal, Kyle and John. He looked at Batman, "They are in danger. John is facing a pet of Ares without his ring to save Hal and Kyle. Hal and Kyle have been transformed into pigs."

Zatanna and Donna actually giggled then stopped abruptly, "Sorry," they both apologized simultaneously. "It just seems so appropriate for Hal, but poor Kyle."

"Let's send Kator and Shayera to help the Lantern's, Jade to take over Hal's spot and Powergirl and Geo-force to Dooms Doorway to relieve Superman and Diana. We are going need them here," Batman stated.

Aquaman, Mera and his soldiers were ready. It helped that he and his men had some control and understanding of magic. Mera seemed the most concerned. "This witch is very tricky from what I hear. We already lost communications with Hal."

Aquaman nodded in agreement. "I will speak with Batman and J'onn."

Exiting the warm ocean waters, Aquaman approached the Amazons. He noticed almost immediately that something was amiss. Each of the Amazons, facing him, had her weapon drawn. The captain of the group stepped forward towards him. She had lovely red hair. It reminded him of Mera's hair. In fact she looked a lot like Mera. Her violet eyes were captivating and when she spoke, he could hear beautiful music.

"It seems the danger has passed, your majesty. If you and your men wish to be entertained, my sisters and I will be more than happy to fulfill your every wish. What is you desire?" She spoke softly, yet the words seemed to stab into his mind and body.

His mind felt violated. He could not think or focus. He had come out of the water for a reason. But of course it would be only natural after a long and grueling battle to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman or two. He had done so before, before he had met Mera. He was glad that she felt the same as he. After battle sex was always good and a great way to relieve tension. Well there really hadn't been a battle, but there could have been. His men could do with the diversion and there were no women anywhere in the world that matched the Amazons for beauty and no soldiers anywhere that matched his soldiers for discipline. It was time they enjoyed themselves.

Adelpha stared at the approaching figure of the king of Atlantis. He did not seem himself. He stared at her and her soldiers in a very unwanted and familiar fashion. She didn't like it. Something was wrong.

"He and his men are just going to rape us, you know."

Adelpha turned to see one of sisters standing next to her. She was tall and had reddish purple hair and violet eyes. She seemed scared of the king.

"Aquaman has been our friend for a many years, sister. He has never disrespected our laws or our Queen or any of our bodies," Adelpha said to her fellow Amazon.

"He has not until now. I know. But men are base creatures. Now that the fight is over his battle lust has transformed into a different kind of lust. Look. His soldiers even now emerge from the waters to take us by force. They are trained as well as we and are even more powerful than us. What chance have we, against them? We can fight them and die, or be taken by force, or go along willingly with them. I'm sure once they have satisfied themselves that they will not harm us further."

Adelpha looked at the violet eyed Amazon aghast, "We are Amazons! We do not surrender! We do not give our bodies up for the pleasure of lust driven men, no matter who they are!"

She turned to her soldiers, "Sisters, defend yourselves! The Atlanteans are possessed!"

Kator and Shayera streaked through the sky moving faster than a fighter jet. As they approached the edge of the forest they both spotted the gigantic wolf chasing down the two little pigs, and John rushing to intercept the wolf with shield, sword and spear. It was obvious that he would not survive the encounter and yet he rushed headlong and determined.

Kator and Shayera shared a look of admiration for their brave friend then dropped from the sky like two avenging angels. Their maces crackled with energy as they swooped in. Kator attacked from the left, striking the huge gruesome beast on the side of the head. Shayera attacked from the right, striking the massive wolf's rear legs. Their attack was unexpected and simultaneous.

The monster fell to the ground. Kator landed, drew his energy sword, and drove it through the head of the beast, pinning it to the ground.

The wolf gave a quick snarl of pain that died almost instantly. It thrashed in its death throes for a moment and then slowly disintegrated. The ashes blew away in the wind.

Shayera and Kator turned to find John kneeling with his spear braced against his left foot and pointing up at a forty-five degree angle. He was looking at them in disbelief.

"You are safe, friend. Let us collect Hal and Kyle before some other beast begins to hunt them," Kator spoke as he watched the two pigs still running away from them.

John stood up smiling, "Well. I really thought this was it. How did you find…never mind. J'onn right?"

Shayera smiled, "He and Batman figured out that something was wrong and sent us here for you three."

"Circe is too powerful. She neutralized the three of us like we were babies. Our most powerful are susceptible to magic. I don't see this ending well," John mused out loud as Kator lifted him easily into the air and they pursued after Hal and Kyle.

"I wouldn't worry too much. I think Batman and J'onn have a plan to stop her," Shayera replied.

Jade reached the spot where Hal had been minutes before and began to scan the island. She started with the beach facing north. She was horrified to see Aquaman and his soldiers advancing on the Amazons with very obvious intentions. The Amazons for their part were not backing down. They stood with weapons drawn ready for battle.

Jennie raced down to prevent the disaster about to happen.

"Something tells me that the attack isn't coming from here, Diana," Clark observed. He stood poised for action. He glanced at Diana for a moment then quickly looked away. He found her smell wonderful. He shouldn't be paying attention to Diana's lovely smell. He could not let himself be distracted. If Dooms Door opened he was determined to face whatever came through head on and with all of his unbridled power. He would not see his best friend or her family harmed again by the god of war or his mistress.

"You are right, Kal, Circe is up to something. She has us too spread out. I don't like it," Diana responded. She studied her best friend's profile as he stared at Doom's Door. She knew that he would throw himself at whatever danger materialized to protect her, her mother and her sisters regardless of the consequences to himself. He was such a wonderful man.

She and Bruce had finally convinced him to allow them to train him in the art of hand to hand combat. There were too many threats out there that rivaled his raw power for him to depend on his strength and speed and luck alone. Once he had begun to train he picked up the skills with breathtaking speed. He never forgot a move or a lesson. He was simply amazing. But for all his power and skill he was still vulnerable to magic and kryptonite.

She knew she would have to protect him today. Circe would eat him for dinner if she didn't do something to level the playing field.

"Superman. Diana."

"We're here J'onn," Diana answered for both of them.

"We need you both at the Palace. We have sent Geo-force and Powergirl to replace you there. They should be able to hold their own against anything that may come through there."

Superman and Diana looked at each other and smiled, "Batman has a plan," they said unanimously.

"Let's go," Superman said turning just as Powergirl and Geo-force entered the cavern.

The four shared a brief and friendly greeting, then Geo-force and Powergirl positioned themselves between Doom's Door and the company of brave Amazons that had followed Superman and Diana.

"Wait a moment Kal," Diana lightly touched his arm, stopping him.

Superman turned to face her. Diana was very close. At this distance it was impossible for him to block out her wonderful aroma. Her lovely, sea blue eyes looked up into his softly.

"Before we go, I need you to take off your shirt for me."


	5. Chapter 5

The Birthday Present

Chapter Four

"What Do You Think Is Going On Down There?"

Dinah was checking all of the com-link channels without success. She had lost all communication with the league members on Themyscira.

"Hey, Legs. I brought you some tea, and some flowers, and an, 'I'm sorry' card and my big hot body. What do ya say we let bygones be bygones." Green Arrow pulled up close to Dinah and sat down. His leg was pressed tightly to hers and he positioned himself so that he was completely in her space. He gave her a very thorough and obvious once over.

It was impossible for her to avoid him without pushing past him.

Dinah did just that. She shoved him back in his chair and stood up. "Not interested anymore. Go give your flowers, your tea, your card and your body to the Almeracan body guard you spent the night with yesterday."

Dinah spoke into the Watchtower intercom, "All JLA members. This is not an exercise. This is a level one, code black priority alert. I repeat. This is a level one, code black priority alert. Every available member is to report to the Monitoring Womb."

Ollie was sitting back in his seat stunned. The last three times that Dinah had caught him cheating he had been able to apologize his way back into her good graces and they had enjoyed some great make up sex.

Maybe he had not acted sincere enough. Well he was sincere. There was no woman he had been with that was as much fun as Dinah…Well, the beautiful guard he'd been with last night was also pretty good maybe as good, but his mind was wandering. The point was that the other ladies were just experiments, diversions. Dinah was the real deal. The woman he wanted to grow old with.

He was sure that once Dinah realized just how much she meant to him, that no matter how many times he was distracted he would always come back to her, they would be back together. He knew what it was! He hadn't given her the sad puppy dog eyes!

What was she talking about a level one code black priority alert for? There was no drill scheduled for today. A level one code black priority alert was only to be used in the instance that the big guns were wiped out suddenly or communications with the mission team were severed. The worst was to be assumed and the remaining league was to act accordingly.

Odd. Dinah wasn't acting like she was going through a drill. She actually looked pretty…scared. Crap! This was for real!

The big guns were on Themyscira. If he remembered correctly Ares and Circe had it in for the Amazons. Were they all dead? Was everyone on the Watchtower next?

What was going on down there and what the hell was he supposed to do about it?

In a daze, Ollie followed Dinah at a respectful distance, to the Monitoring Womb.

"Arthur! What are you doing?" Mera grabbed Aquaman's arm and tried to pull him around to look at her. It was like trying to move a brick wall. Instead she ended up pulling herself in front of him.

She knew instantly that he was bewitched. He brushed her aside as if she were a baby and continued marching, along with his bewitched soldiers, on the small company of armed Amazons.

"Stop!" She screamed at her husband.

There was no reponse, just the look of a hungry animal on his face as he homed in on the outnumbered and outpowered Amazons.

"Run!" she turned screaming at the Amazons. "They are not themselves!" she raced towards the captain of the company then turned and faced her husband and his army of possessed men.

She could not communicate with the Lanterns or J'onn. Maybe if she screamed loud enough, Superman would hear her and come to the rescue. He would not let his friends harm each other.

Aquaman and the soldiers broke into a charge. There were sickening leers on their faces. Mera knew that the fight would be hopeless. Closing her eyes, she concentrated and brought up a wall of water from the sea.

Just as she was about to bring it crashing down on Aquaman and the Atlantean soldiers a green wall of energy appeared separating Mera and the Amazons from the possessed soldiers.

Jade landed next to her. "Let the water crash in on them. It shouldn't harm them, just wash most of them back into the sea. Maybe it will even wake them up from whatever spell their under."

Mera looked at her and smiled her thanks, "Yes. Maybe a splash of warm tropical water will snap them out of it."

Mera swept her arms inward. The wall of water came smashing in on the Aquaman and his men. Many were dragged back into the sea, some were slammed into Jade's green wall of energy and Aquaman was brought to his knees.

Mera turned to Adelpha, the captain of the company of Amazons and pleaded, "Please take your warriors away to the palace or anywhere away from here. They are not a threat at the moment, but they are not themselves. They are bewitched. At any other time they would give their lives fighting on your side. Remove the temptation until the witch has been neutralized. This is her doing."

Adelpha looked into the beautiful face and the pleading eyes of the queen of Atlantis and nodded in agreement. "We will do as you ask. It is never wise to spill the blood of one's allies. We both know that it us that you have saved. It is an honor to call you friend, your majesty."

"As it is an honor to be considered a friend of the Amazons," Mera replied with smile.

Adelpha bowed then turned and commanded her soldiers to follow her. The company fierce, beautiful warriors trotted off to the palace.

"Take off my shirt?" Superman asked in surprise. It was not the kind of request he expected to hear from Diana.

Diana smiled. "Your super hearing is amazing. Yes. I need you to take off your shirt for me. Don't worry. I do not plan to keep it, but we have to give you an edge against Circe. We cannot afford to lose you to her. There would be no hope for any of us."

"O…Okay." Superman took off his uniform shirt. He was still confused as to how taking off his shirt would give him an edge against Circe. That was why he was with Diana. She was his edge.

Diana lost herself for a moment as she stared at his perfectly sculpted torso. He was such a beautiful man in every sense of the word it took all of her resolve not to run her hands over his rippling abdominals and expansive chest and shoulders.

"Now what?" Superman was looking at her nervously. He seemed uncomfortable and self conscious. It was part of what made him so amazing. He was the most powerful man in the world, perhaps the universe, yet he never flaunted his looks or his power. He was the most decent and well mannered man she had ever met.

Embarrassed with herself for staring, Diana stepped towards him with her lasso. "I want you to wear this wrapped around your torso under your shirt. It will protect you from her mind control, from her magic and keep you sharp. Lift your arms for me."

Superman did so. Diana kept herself from letting an audible gasp escape her lips as she made contact and wrapped the lasso around him several times. He was so warm. She could feel his raw power and sense his gentleness. It defined his features. It was one of the many reasons she loved her best friend.

"There," she said stepping back and surveying her work. He was thoroughly wrapped. "You can put your shirt back on. But remember to make Circe think that you are under her control." She smiled up at him.

Superman held his shirt in his hands. He was looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. He stepped forward. "Diana. What have I done? You are so wonderful. You and I…"

Diana took another step back. "Stop, Kal. The lasso is making you say things that you might regret later. It will not make you lie but there are some truths that may be inappropriate. Why don't you put on your shirt so we can continue on to the palace? It sounds like they need us there." Diana looked into his eyes waiting for his response. She wondered if it was a bad idea wrapping Kal in her lasso. He seemed to want to grab her and the desire in his eyes was unmistakable.

She loved Kal, but he was off limits to her and she would not interfere with his marriage. She knew that he loved her but he had married Lois after they failed to give their young attraction a fighting chance.

Diana also knew how much Kal loved Lois. It showed in how he talked about her and to her, how he treated her. Diana was happy for him. She did not dwell much on what could have been. They had become best friends in the years since and she wouldn't trade their friendship and trust for the world.

Her words seemed to penetrate and Kal nodded and put his shirt back on. "You're right, Diana. Let's go catch this witch." He was smiling and seemed himself again.

Diana breathed a sigh of relief. She had not realized that she had been holding her breath. "Yes let's go, we need to get there now," she smiled.

"Well, in that case, I'll carry you." With that, Superman scooped Diana up in his arms. She gave out a gasp of surprise before the two disappeared in a blur.

Geo-Force and Powergirl looked at each other in amusement.

"Guess those two forgot that they had an audience, huh?" Bryon chuckled.

Powergirl snickered as well as the two of them observed the shocked looks of the Amazon warriors who had witnessed the whole ordeal.

"I think one of these days those two are going to finally break down and just get a room," Karen giggled.


	6. Chapter 6

The Birthday Present

Chapter Five

Some Witches Know How To Party And Some Are Real Party Poopers

Steel and Mr. Terrific were in the Monitoring Womb before Dinah and Ollie arrived. Within seconds the rest of the League members aboard the Watchtower had joined them.

Dinah breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Captain Marvel walk through the door. If anyone was Superman's near equal in power, other than J'onn, it was him. Not only was he nearly as powerful but he was all about magic; something Superman struggled with.

If Circe and or Ares decided to attack the Watchtower they would be in for quite the surprise. Not only would they have to deal with Captain Marvel but Dr. Fate as well.

So far as magic and power went, Dinah was already feeling better but she felt a dread in the pit of her stomach that her friends, and the true leaders of the League, were dead.

As spokeswoman for the League and designated leader in the absence of Superman, Wonder Woman, J'onn or Batman, it was up to her to delegate responsibilities and lay out the plan of action in a moment of crisis such as this one.

She was impressed with the serious faces. Everyone was scared and ready to do whatever was required. Even Booster, Blue Beetle and Plastic man were not fooling around.

Dinah began giving her orders, "I want Mr. Terrific to monitor for any out of the ordinary activities down on the surface; activities of a magical or supernatural nature. I want Dr. Fate and Captain Marvel to be ready to deploy if any such thing occurs. I want Mary Marvel, Red Tornado, Orion, Big Barda and Mister Miracle to be ready to back them up if necessary but to focus on defending the Watchtower."

Dinah continued, "Blue Beetle and Cyborg, I want you two to see if you can reestablish contact with the team or with the Queen. Starfire, you are good friends with Donna. I want you to go down to the Embassy and see if they have any information that will help us. Steel, I need you to see to the Watchtowers defenses. Firestorm, Booster and Green Arrow, I want you two to head down to Metropolis for patrol. Atom Smasher, Red Arrow, Wildcat and Damage, I want you four to go to Gotham for patrol. Ray, I need you on standby. You're the only one here who can come close to the Flash in speed. Captain Atom, head over to Coast City. Mari, contact Oa. We may need backup. Mary, do you have any idea where Superboy and Supergirl are? They haven't answered their com-links…nevermind. Here they come. I'm not going to deploy you two yet. I want you here as back up.

The rest of you, make sure that all civilians are teleported down to earth. If it comes down to an attack on our base or we find out that our friends are dead, were hitting the witch with everything we've got!"

Everyone nodded grimly. They were all determined. None questioned her; except for Ollie. He was a bit confused. "Hey, Dinah, why exactly am I being sent to Metropolis with Booster and Firestorm instead of staying here with you where I can be much more help?"

Dinah answered without looking at him. "One, because Booster and Ronnie are young and a bit immature and need a seasoned veteran with them. Two, I'm the chair at the moment, so I picked you as the seasoned veteran. And three, I don't need or want you anywhere near me. Don't pretend to be angry or hurt. I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a pretty face to distract you down there."

Ollie opened and then shut his mouth. It was obvious to him that Dinah needed her space and a little bit of time to get over his last little adventure. Fine, he would give it to her. "Hello, Metropolis. Here, I come," he muttered under his breath as he headed to the tele-porters. He ran into Roy who was headed towards the tele-porters as well.

He also seemed somewhat down. "What's the matter kid?" he asked his foster son. Roy looked at him and muttered, "She couldn't even send one hottie with us!"

Ollie chuckled, already feeling better. "When this is all over, talk to Nightwing. I'm sure there are plenty of hotties in Gotham. He could probably hook you up. But let's get through this. I don't even want to think that our big guns are all gone."

"I know." Roy answered. "This is downright freaky."

Dinah was still talking, "I need to send an individual or two down to the island to see firsthand what is going on but I'm not going to make anyone do this. If there are no volunteers then I will go myself…" Dinah was interrupted.

"I will go. The Amazons are my friends and Superman is the future father of my children. I will see what has become of our friends and avenge them if need be." It was Maxima. The beautiful warrior princess from Almerac had joined the League a few months back out of gratitude to Superman for rescuing her planet and, many suspected, because she was certain she could convince him to have a little romp with her. Apparently she still hadn't gotten the memo about him being married.

Circe smiled wickedly to herself as she stepped into the cavern before Dooms Door. She was not worried about the Amazons. She had found that women were not as susceptible to her mind control as men were, but she still had plenty of deadly tricks. She only wanted to keep them occupied. She had larger fish to fry. With a wave of her hand, she caused them all to stand frozen like statues.

Circe did not find Wonder Woman to be that much of a challenge. Sure, she was gifted by the gods, she was fast, strong, beautiful, wise, and an excellent warrior, but these talents never were much use against her sorcery. She just had to make sure to keep her at a distance, keep away from her lasso and keep Superman away from her lasso as well.

She was taken aback when she came face to face with Powergirl and Geo-force instead of Wonder Woman and Superman. She knew that Powergirl was in some vague way related to Superman and so presumed that she would be as vulnerable to magic as he.

Women seemed to be stronger minded than males. It was either that or they generally had more than one thing on their mind at any given moment and so it was harder to bring them under her control. Powergirl, however, was Kryptonian, so she would be susceptible, and the way she was dressed reeked of sensuality and base desires. Circe figured her for one of those females with a voracious sexual appetite and a strong desire for male attention.

Geo-force she knew nothing about, but he was a man, so she wasn't worried. She caught each of them up in a mystical force bubble. She pulled Geo-force to her and touched the struggling hero's face. She had him floating above the ground and he was sweating as he fought for self control. "You are going satisfy the pretty blond over there. I believe you very capable by your looks, but just in case, I'm going to fill you with the sexual appetite of a god." She pushed him up and away from her and turned to the struggling Powergirl.

Circe smiled at the ease with which she had captured these two. "You, my lovely, will be unable to do anything but mate like an animal with this man for the next hour. You will be unable to do or think of anything but give in to your base desires until the hour is up." She gave a laugh as she merged the two force bubbles into one and watched briefly as the two succumbed to the spell and gave in to their passions.

Circe turned to the frozen Amazon host. "You will remain planted to the earth while your friends devour each other, and then each of you will have her turn as his next plaything unless you tell me where Superman and Wonder Woman have disappeared to."

One of the Amazons answered, "They are at the Palace and they will defeat you Witch!"

Circe laughed, "We shall see. As a thank you for your help, you will be the first the man you now watch consumes after he is done with Powergirl."

Circe disappeared from their presence and shimmered into the Palace.

"Well, I see that you have all saved me the trouble of hunting you down. I must thank you," Circe seemed very pleased. The queen, the two princesses, Superman, the Martian, the Flash, Zatanna, and of course, the dark one himself were all present and at her mercy.

Circe waved her hand at J'onn and immediately he was engulfed in flames. He fell to the floor in agony as he burned and slowly died. She encased the Flash in a gelatinous bubble. He struggled futilely to escape, to vibrate free. He could not and slowly began to suffocate. With a snap of her fingers she sealed Zatanna's mouth shut. Superman found himself in a magical force bubble with shards of Kryptonite. He quickly succumbed to the radiation and slumped down in a heap. Batman, she left floating forty feet above the floor.

The two princesses rushed her. The desperate rage was plain on their faces. With a wave of her hand, she froze them in place. It would not keep them still or stop them for long, but she didn't intend it to.

Taking Wonder Woman's lariat, she bound the Queen and left her lying, all trussed up, on the floor.

Good. That was everyone. Now it was time to begin the real humiliation. Turning to Superman, Circe released him from the kryptonite bubble and let him drop to the floor. She stood over his still form and smiled as their eyes locked. "Stand up my beautiful slave. I have a task for you before you die."

Superman stood up. "Go bind each of the Princesses wrists together for me. When you are done come back and kneel before me." Circe instructed him.

Superman man walked over to the struggling princesses and bound their wrists while they protested and pleaded with him to snap out of the spell, then he walked back to Circe and knelt down in front of her.

Circe was almost purring she was so happy. Victory was hers. She turned so that she was facing the queen and her daughters, "Do not worry, Queen of nothing. I am going to hand you and your daughters over to Ares as gifts. Do not look so shocked. I have no problem sharing. I prefer more than one lover at a time. I really wanted to keep Superman for myself. I thought it only fair since Ares will have you three. Well, and maybe the magician. Of course, you four won't be his "other" lovers. You will be his slaves, to use as he pleases. I foresee a future of pain and humiliation for you. It will be wonderful to watch the Queen of the Amazons and her two daughters, gifted by the gods themselves, pleading and begging for mercy both for themselves and for each other. Yes, I wanted to keep Superman for myself, for pretty much the same reasons as Ares wants to have you, but I promised to kill Superman. He has the uncanny ability to escape or survive whatever is thrown at him and come back stronger each time. So today, I will ignore my more base desires and remove Superman from the list of the mighty heroes of earth."

As Circe spoke she walked behind Superman and drew a kryptonite dagger from her gown. She grabbed his thick black hair in her left hand and plunged the dagger through his back, piercing his left lung and his heart. Giving the knife a twist, she snapped the blade off, leaving it embedded in his heart.

Before the unbelieving eyes of his allies and friends, Superman let out a surprised yell from the sudden agony and then fell lifeless to the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

The Birthday Present

Chapter Six

That's Just How They Roll

Ollie teleported down to Metropolis. It was the middle of the day, midsummer, and the sun was hot. He was thankful that he materialized in a shady spot in the park and not on top of the Daily Planet. Bad guys, who wanted to piss off Superman, tended to target the Daily Planet on a regular basis.

Ollie often wondered why nobody put up a sign on top of the building that read, "If you are a super villain, this is NOT the Daily Planet."

Or maybe something like, "You hate Superman? So Do We!"

Anything to keep the building intact for at least a year. Although, life had been fairly quiet for the last few months. New Genesis was keeping a close eye on Apokolips. Rann and Thanagar were at peace and helping the Green Lantern Corps patrol the space sectors and he had only a few low life's to deal with in Star City.

Ollie enjoyed not having to stress out over whether or not the earth was going to be attacked and destroyed by some powerful aliens. Not having to spend every waking moment at the Watchtower or in costume gave him time to relax.

But then again, his idea of relaxing was spending quality time with a beautiful, naked woman. Life didn't get any more relaxing than that. Unless there was more than one beautiful, naked woman present for the relaxing session. It was his weakness. He couldn't keep his eyes off of the ladies.

A part of him knew he should stop so that he could focus all of his attentions on Dinah but he seemed to lack the willpower to do so. He had even caught himself giving another woman a good once over while giving Dinah a hug. He had felt guilty about it for a little while but consoled himself with the fact that it was just a harmless look.

Dinah was very understanding and forgiving of his antics. The two times she had caught him had been very hard for her but after a few weeks he had been forgiven. She seemed to realize that he couldn't help himself. And he had made sure not to take women to their home after that. Actually, until yesterday, he hadn't been with another woman for several months now other than Dinah herself.

He wasn't sure if this lady counted because she was an alien. Sure she looked human but she was a warrior from Almerac. She was, in fact, one of Maxima's body guards. She had probably been the most aggressive woman he had ever been with. Then again she was a warrior and an alien and stronger than him even though he was bigger.

After two hours with her he hadn't been able to feel his legs. But she had been lots of fun. His only regret was that he had not been able to continue.

On top of his legs going numb, his back had been pretty sore and Little Ollie had lost his, "Umph."

As badly as he wanted a rematch, he figured it would be safer to stick to the ladies he could please and just plain lay low for a while until Dinah got over being angry with him.

Ollie checked his surroundings and then began trudging over towards the dreaded Daily Planet. Touching his earpiece he checked in. "Firestorm? Booster? You guys there?" He asked. He was at the edge of the park now and didn't want to take off running through the streets dressed as he was in broad daylight.

"Firestorm here," came Ronnie's voice.

"Booster here, what's the problem?"

"I need a lift to the top of the Daily Planet," Ollie stated.

"Be right there, boss." Booster responded. He appeared within seconds. Booster was just as tall as Ollie and also blond, but his suit and flight ring put him in a whole other level of hero. He could, of course, fly due to his flight ring, and his suit gave him incredible strength. He could lift and throw small cars. He also had powerful energy blasts that he could focus and discharge from his wrists and he could produce an energy containment field around himself or project to objects and people as well.

Booster was a complete clown, normally but today he wasn't fooling around. He made his home in Metropolis, the same as Superman and for all of his constant joking, scheming and seeming immaturity, he, like most of the League, looked up to Superman. Everyone thought of him as invincible. Even knowing that he had some weaknesses, it just didn't seem possible that they might never see him again.

"Here we go." Booster encased Ollie in a force field and flew him to the top of the Daily Planet. "We'll let you know if we need some sniping."

Ollie looked at him to see if he was kidding. It didn't look like he was. Booster gave him a weak smile then disappeared into the sky to continue his patrols.

Ollie quickly set up so that he could be of use if Booster or Firestorm needed him. He figured the chances those two would need his help were slim to none. There wasn't even a known threat to Metropolis as far as he knew. They were here strictly as a preventative measure and, of course, because Dinah was angry with him at the moment.

Still, if they needed him he was ready. Ollie had absolutely no problem with using deadly force. He remembered a few years back when he had killed the men that had kidnapped and raped Dinah. It had been such an easy decision. No questions. No doubts. Just pure rage. He had put them down like rapid dogs.

Remembering those days, set him in a dark mood. "Please, somebody try and take at shot Big Blues crib."

Ollie had his telescoping lens on his modified compound bow and was scanning the different buildings surrounding the Daily Planet. He had just started to scan the streets when he heard the door to the roof swing open.

With the ease that only comes with years of constant practice, he side stepped, spinning, as he did so, to face his potential attacker. As he spun he loaded an arrow, knelt and drew the bowstring back. He accomplished the move smoothly and in a breath.

When he saw his potential enemy, his grim look disappeared; he relaxed his bow and stood with mischievous grin on his face. "Hi, Gorgeous. Sorry Superman isn't here at the moment. But I've never turned down an interview. How do you feel about roof tops? Really private unless there are flying people interrupting you every few minutes…"

Ollie looked up at the sky a little irritated as Booster passed by and waved.

Lois sat at her desk looking over some notes on a story she and Clark were working on. It involved a wealthy businessman by the name of Dr. Williams. He proclaimed to be the embodiment of "True Love" and had started a very successful swingers club in the city. Only young attractive couples were admitted into the club.

Normally, this sort of thing would be news for about a week, people always liked to read about sex, but the body of a young woman had been found in the river just the week before. She had last been seen entering one of the good doctors 'clubs'. Yes it was true, singles, if they were attractive were also allowed into the clubs.

The autopsy of the young woman had revealed that she had been full of an exotic drug known as 'Easy'. It was the newest date rape drug. Its effects were extremely potent, leaving the victim completely at the mercy of anyone wanting to take advantage of her or him.

While it was not unknown for 'swingers' to use drugs at their 'meetings' or parties, it did not make sense that a drug like Easy would need to be employed at such a club if, as everyone had been led to believe, participation was completely voluntary.

Lois and Clark had planned on taking a trip over to the good doctors' office that day for an interview and to snoop around but a Justice League emergency had come up involving Diana and her family. Clark had made her promise not to go anywhere dangerous while he was out of the city and then he had disappeared.

Lois smiled, while researching the head "Swinger" the night before, they had taken a small break. Well, it had been meant to be a small break. It had turned into a two hour break and then she had fallen asleep exhausted. Making love to her husband was incredible. It was like he could read her mind and body and knew what she needed and wanted. She couldn't remember ever saying anything that resembled, "Clark. Stop," or "I want" or "I need" or "Don't stop."

If she had one regret about her sex life with her 'Superman' it was that she knew that for all of his tenderness, gentleness and passion, he had experienced an orgasm only a few times. He had been recovering from an extended exposure to red sunlight.

While she had been thrilled that she had been able to give him the kind of pleasure that he routinely gave her, those days had been very dangerous. Many of Superman's enemies had been aware of his being weakened and had sought him out in force. It seemed they all wanted to be the one that snuffed out the "Man of Steel."

Lois was determined to find a way to in which she and Clark could make love without him having to be in complete control and constantly hold back. She didn't know how she would accomplish this but she knew that there had to be a way.

"Whoa! Did you all see that? I think it was Superman fighting some green guy or racing one of the Green Lanterns!" Jimmy hollered excitedly as he rushed to window. The newsroom was thirty stories up. He had seen a blue and yellow and green blur shoot up past the window while he had been staring outside from his desk daydreaming about panties.

He looked up trying to catch a glimpse the hero or villain he had just seen. There was nothing in sight but the building was eighty stories so it didn't mean much.

Lois shot up from her seat and ran to the elevator. She hit the top floor and wondered why in the world she couldn't be one of the lucky people with superpowers. A dose of super speed would come in handy right about now.

Finally! The elevator door opened. Lois rushed to the stairs and up to the roof. She slammed the door open and stepped out. She did not see who she expected but she thought she had heard of this one.

He was all in green so he must be one of the Green Lanterns. No that wastn't right. He had a bow and a quiver full of arrows. He must be Robin Hood. She wondered if he was one of the heroes that had time traveled from the past to their time. He was big. He wasn't as tall as Clark or as thick but he was well over six feet tall and from the looks of it, in very good shape.

He was flirting with her! Lois was taken aback, "You want to do an interview…who was that?" she asked as she caught a glimpse of Booster Gold fly overhead. "Was that Booster Gold?"

"Yes. Yes it was. Now about that interview, do you want to do this here or someplace else? Like maybe your place?" the big, blond man in green asked her.

Maxima was teleported to the area above the magical barrier that protected Themyscira. She realized that there was no way for her to breach the barrier and no way for her to contact anyone inside to let her in. She remembered the portal at the embassy that they had employed in the past when visiting the island.

Starfire was probably already there. She shot off at super speed to the embassy. She arrived in minutes and was allowed in. She found Starfire speaking with Mala and a couple of other Amazon warriors.

They turned and greeted her with respect. After all only she, Powergirl and Big Barda had ever matched their Princess in feats of strength or in combat.

"You all must realize the gravity of the situation by now. We must act now or Superman, the League and your sisters may be lost forever. Let me through the Portal. I will free the world of this witch." Maxima spoke with authority, as was her custom.

Mala smiled. She loved they way this alien princess thought. She was all warrior. "Of course, your Highness, you are free to go the through the portal and I know I speak for the queen when I say that you are always welcome to our home."

As Maxima was about to pass through Starfire stopped her. "I will join you. You may need help and they are my friends as well."

"Your company is welcome, young princess. The witch will get a taste of what it means to anger two alien warrior princesses today," she spoke with a smile. She always smiled when she spoke of battle or when she was in battle. The only other thing that made her smile like that was when she was thinking about or interacting with Superman.

The two Princesses stepped through the portal and found themselves in a large empty room behind the queen's throne room. They both looked around for a few seconds and listened. They heard a scream. It was one of desperation and anger. They then heard voices and then silence.

Starfire and Maxima rushed out into the queen's throne room and stopped again looking around in shock. The room seemed crowded and they felt that they were in the presence of ancient power.

Maxima spotted him. "I knew it! She shouted with a smile on her beautiful face. She rushed to him and kissed him happily and hungrily on the mouth.


	8. Chapter 8

The Birthday Present

Chapter Seven

Confused Witches Are So Cute, But Smug Witches Are Kinda Scary

The company of frozen Amazons were unable to take their eyes off of the two mind controlled lovers. They seemed to both have voracious appetites as well as inhuman stamina. The blond one, known to them as Powergirl, had already cried out in release at least four different times; the male at least twice.

Of the two he seemed to have the most stamina, but then, of course the witch had cursed him with the sexual hunger of a god. He would exhaust the Kryptonian female and then he would move on to them, and they would be unable to defend themselves.

The bubble that Powergirl and Geo-force were trapped in dropped to the ground from the force and passion of their lovemaking. A small part of each of their minds realized what was happening and that they were under some sort of powerful spell. The rest of their minds did not care. They could not fight the magic that Circe had enslaved them with. They had been a couple for several months now anyway and enjoyed their love life tremendously.

Prince Bryon was the more lost of the two. All he could feel was the unnatural hunger. No matter how many times he climaxed, he was not satisfied. He was already starting to eye the beautiful warriors standing, waiting their turn patiently. He would wait until this beauty could not handle him anymore and then he would start on the Amazons. There were plenty of them, about two hundred. He figured once he was done with each of them he could always start from the beginning again or maybe by that time there would be some replacements.

The force bubble touched the ground. Something happened to the bubble. It began to dissolve. Bryon and Karen fell to the bare ground in their intimate embrace. Karen was underneath. She was grinding herself on her lover in desperation. Bryon, instead of holding himself still for her as he usually did when she was in such a state, was thrusting into her violently, trying desperately to quench his unnatural appetite.

His arms and legs touched the ground. Suddenly he was himself again. His cold look of pure hunger disappeared and was replaced by one of concern, tenderness and embarrassment. He held himself still until his lovely Karen reached her peak and then crashed exhausted in his arms.

"We were under a spell love," he said as he gently withdrew from her warmth and kissed her lightly on the lips. He stood up and dressed quickly. He noticed that Karen seemed a little slower to come around. She was flushed and without energy. Generally she could outlast him unless they were outside or his feet were on the ground. The earth gave him boundless strength and energy. Thankfully the witch didn't know this about him.

Geo-force turned to the Amazons, "It is alright, warriors of Themyscira. The spell is undone. I am myself again. Our friends have something special for the witch. Today she will pay for her treachery and violence against you."

The Amazons all breathed a sigh of relief. They suddenly found themselves able to move again and Powergirl was again in control of her mind. She looked around embarrassed and then asked Bryon, "How did you break us free from the spell?"

"I didn't. I broke free when I touched the earth. You were all freed just now. That means that Circe lost or is dead." Geo-force smiled.

The Amazons all cheered.

Circe stood over the fallen form of the man of steel. He had so many enemies that wanted to kill or control or enslave him, but none had succeeded. She, an ancient witch, had singlehandedly defeated the much feared Justice League.

The Green Lanterns were, no doubt, dead by now. Aquaman and Geo-force were killing Amazons. The Flash was dying before her eyes. The Martian was dead. The queen, the magician and both of the princesses would spend the rest of their lives as the tortured playthings of Ares and whoever or whatever he decided to share them with. The mortal who called himself the Batman hung impotently, forty feet in the air. She was debating turning him into an animal and keeping him for a pet or turning him into a pig and feeding him to Ares pets.

And of course, the prize of prizes, she had killed Superman. She would take his head and present it to Ares. He would probably mount it on a wall for all too see, and he would take his pleasure from the Princess Diana in front of it often. She chuckled with satisfaction and with the ease of her victory.

She turned to the elder princess and asked, "Any last requests before I take you to your new home?"

The Princess looked her dead in the eye and said, "Uoy evah tsol. Cigam eb enodnu. Hctiw dnuob."

Circe found that she could not move. She watched in horror as the queen burst the golden lariat from her body and advanced on her, Zatanna also had a sword in her hand. Batman came to the ground slowly, his legs were moving at such high speeds that they were a blur. The dead Martian stood up from the flames and blew on the gelatinous bubble that encased the dead Flash then he blurred over to the now frozen bubble and shattered it with a blow. The Flash dropped to his knees and then stood up removing a mouth piece that she hadn't seen there before. Superman stood up from the ground and faced her. For a moment he seemed to go invisible and the kryptonite blade that she had snapped off in his heart fell to the floor with a clatter.

"NOOOO!" she screamed. "Victory was mine. You cannot win!"

The veil was lifted. She saw that she had been tricked. Zatanna and the Queen were actually the princesses. The two bound princesses were Zatanna and the Queen. The suffocating Flash was Batman and vice versa. And the biggest insult, Superman and the Martian had switched.

The queen stood before her with sword drawn. Her general Phillipus appeared with several soldiers.

Circe curled her lip at the queen. "I am immortal, but unlike you, I cannot be killed. You do as you like but I will be back and you and your daughters will suffer the fate I promised you today."

Diana moved to strike her. Hippolyta stopped her. "No, Daughter. She is defeated. We will not punish her. The gods will."

They suddenly felt weak. The amazons dropped to their knees as Hera, Athena and Aphrodite stood in their midst.

Circe looked at them with true fear in her eyes, but then she became defiant. "You cannot kill me. All I have done was at your son's request," she said addressing Hera.

"I will deal with my son later. Now is the time to deal with you. You have reminded all that you cannot be killed. This is true. However this does not mean that you cannot be punished. Many gods have been punished in the past, including my son. You are not above the gods. You have trespassed and attacked the Amazons who are under our protection and you thought we would not retaliate? Now you will listen to our judgment. I promise that if you again attack the Amazons or their friends you will be exiled to Tartarus. I am sure some of the Titans would welcome such a lovely immortal to their realm."

Circe ignored Hera's words. She was intently studying Superman and Wonder Woman. They were standing very close and talking. She could not tell what they were saying but what she saw was all that she needed to know. They were in love. It was obvious to her that they had not consummated their relationship. It was like the young lantern fool had said. They were not a couple, but she could take care of that.

Athena pulled a jeweled dagger from her belt and stepped forward. "For your treachery and defiance I present you with your new home."

She thrust the blade into Circe's stomach and stepped back. Circe shrieked from the pain and dropped to her knees. She could feel her body being pulled into the dagger.

Hera and Aphrodite took their leave. Athena stayed to finish the sentencing of the witch.

A door behind the throne burst open and Maxima and Starfire rushed into the room. The two took in the scene. Both looked relieved, although Maxima looked both relieved and disappointed; relieved that her friends were all alive and well and disappointed that the fight was over.

Maxima spotted Superman. "I knew it!" she shouted with a smile on her beautiful face. She rushed to him and kissed him happily and hungrily, full on the mouth.

Circe took everything in and smiled wickedly. "I will see you all again, very, very soon." With that she collapsed gasping as the blade finished drawing her into itself and then it laid still and glowing on the floor next to three power rings.


	9. Chapter 9

The Birthday Present

Chapter 8

Do You Like The Truth? Do You Like Being Naked? Do You Like Daggers? Do You Like Warnings? If So, Then You Are Gonna Love This Chapter!

As Kator and Shayera were about to land in the courtyard of the palace, they both heard a shriek from inside and they hurried to land. Kator set John down and drew his pulse rifle and held it at the ready. Shayera had not quite landed when the two small pigs that she had tucked under each arm transformed into two large, naked men.

As small as Shayera was in size she was still stronger than a normal human. The nth metal in her belt and harness and in her wings added considerable strength to her Thangarian physiology. Carrying two full grown men generally would not be a serious problem for her, at least not for short distances. However, the sudden and abrupt change in weight from two small pigs to two large men caused her to drop the remaining few feet to the courtyard in a tangled and unceremonious heap.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow Hal managed to land on top of her and Kyle was underneath her.

Kyle let out a groan of discomfort, Hal smiled into her face. "You saved me! Why is it that the hottest, bravest and superheroest ladies are always taken?"

Shayera pushed him off and stood up. "Turn it off, Hal. I don't know how, but I know you landed on top of me on purpose. You three wait out here while Kator and I see what's going on inside."

Kator looked at Hal and Kyle with an uncharacteristic grin on his helmeted face. Then he and Shayera disappeared into the palace.

Kyle groaned again as he stood up. He began taking in his surroundings. "Aww crap! Are we gonna get caned or put to death for running around without our undies in front of a bunch of Amazon warriors?" he asked in exasperation.

As the three looked around they noted that the courtyard was full of Amazons as were the walls and battlements. John nodded, "You two might want to think about finding something to wear sometime soon. I don't think they appreciate you two running around with your stuff on display." He was still clothed due to not having been changed into a pig.

Kyle placed his hands strategically over the parts that were always happy to see Jade.

Hal walked around boldly. "Do any of you ladies have any swimming trunks or loincloth's you could spare for a little while? I promise to return them if you do and I could always sign them for you," he added.

Looking at the completely horrified Kyle he said, "No need to hide your stuff kid, you have nothing to be ashamed of and these ladies need to see what it is that they're missing out on anyway."

"Are you crazy! I want, very much, to leave here with every part of my body that I came here with, still attached! Stop disrespecting the very large number of armed and dangerous Amazons. I don't think showing them your thistle and berries is gonna make them all of a sudden love men again!" Kyle pointed out to Hal.

John looked at Hal and shook his head. "If they attack you, I'm not helping. A giant wolf is one thing, forty angry and armed Amazons is quite another."

"Aww, you fought a big bad wolf for two naked guys. That is very romantic, John." Hal shot back with a grin, he was still checking out the Amazons.

"Let me point out that you two were pigs. Not guys. _Pigs_. And yes I just about got eaten trying to save your pink, curly tailed butts. I'm alive and breathing and so are you. So let's not antagonize the beautiful Amazons and let's keep breathing.

"Oh, don't get your panties all in a bunch. I'm not naked by choice, although if it were up to me, I would do everything in the buff and so should these long lost beauties. I mean, look at that! They shouldn't hide those bodies behind clothes and armor!" Hal answered. He did, however, walk over to where John stood facing the palace entrance. "Um. One question. If the Queen and Hawkman and Hawkbabe are all in there, why are we out here again?"

"Okay. When I told you two not to antagonize the ladies with your stuff, I didn't mean for you bring your stuff over by me. So you two need to stop crowding me. We're good friends, but not that good. You know, maybe we should just go into the palace. I'm sure there are clothes in there. I imagine that Batman, J'onn, Superman and Wonder Woman have it all under control by now." John was desperate to get some distance between himself and his two naked friends.

"Diana's in there? Why didn't you say so? She and I have to discuss some things from earlier," Hal revealed. His face was dead serious.

Kyle looked at him and whistled, "You don't get it do you? You are definitely fearless and there's no doubt you're smart and good in a fight, but there are times, like now for instance, that I'm glad that you didn't decide to become a detective. I don't know what you think you discussed with Wonder Woman, but you need to understand that it wasn't Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman doesn't turn people into pigs. That's not how she rolls. That was Circe yanking your chain."

Hal stared at him for a moment. It seemed the light bulb had gone on. "That was Circe! How did she know Diana felt that way about me? Just for your information, she never yanked on my chain. If she had, we'd still be at it. It's just one of my natural powers. I've yet to meet the lady that can yank on my chain just once. It's never happened. If they've yanked once then they have to have seconds. Still, even being an evil witch, she has great insight into people's emotions and desires. I'm glad this all happened. Now Diana and I can get everything out on the table. She'll have to understand that I'm not the kind of guy you can really pin down, but I'll always be there for her when she needs physical release and someone to lean on. I mean, we are friends, it is the least I could do for her."

John and Kyle stared at him for a moment. The look of disbelief was plain on their faces. Kyle actually forgot that he was naked for a moment and threw his hands up in the air. "I can't believe you! If these Amazons don't hurt you then Diana's mother will. Whatever you do, don't march in there declaring your feelings for her naked. Okay?"

"You have a very good point, Kyle, but your hands are a little too close to my face. I know you've been holding your stuff with them. Also, your thing is a little too close to me. You really need to back off a bit." As John spoke he backed slowly towards the palace entrance.

Superman stepped back awkwardly from Maxima. He had never experienced a kiss quite like that in his life. It had been completely unexpected, passionate and fierce. He had always wanted to kiss Lois like that, but he had to be careful not to hurt her. Lois, of course, kissed him with everything she had all of the time.

Superman had often wondered what it would feel like to not have to hold back with something as simple and intimate as a kiss. It took all of his considerable willpower to not grab Maxima and return the kiss. He was sure that being wrapped in Diana's lasso wasn't helping matters. It brought the truth to the light, sometimes painfully so. He could not mask his reaction to Maxima's kiss. Unfortunately, not only did Diana and Maxmia notice his reaction to the kiss but Circe did as well, just before she was pulled into the Olympian, bejeweled dagger.

Circe's last defiant words had been, "I will see you all, very, very soon." Her eyes had been locked on Superman, Wonder Woman and Maxima.

Diana had felt a chill go up her spine at the witch's words. She had come close to victory. Her power was not to be taken lightly. Her ultimate plan could have so easily become a reality. The idea of what could have happened sent another chill up her spine and she involuntarily stepped closer to Kal. She had come so close to losing him again. Somehow the idea of his death was not something she ever wanted to contemplate.

She had to admit that Batman's and J'onn's plan to deceive Circe had been a stroke of genius. J'onn and Zatanna had executed it perfectly. Feed the witch her victory and she had been blind to the truth until to late. She sighed. They were safe for now, but she feared that what Circe had said was all too true. Sooner or later she would find some way to escape from her prison and she would again bring misery to the Amazons, to herself and to her friends.

Diana felt a slight sense of comfort that she had been forbidden from again harming her family, sister Amazons and her friends, but she feared that the witch would find some way around that restriction or just flat out ignore it and the consequences. Seeing Kal's strong reaction to Maxima's kiss reminded her that she needed to retrieve her lasso from him. The broken, fake lasso that lay at her feet she absentmindedly kicked to the side as she touched his arm gently. "Kal. We need to get the lasso off of you before you do or say something that you will regret later."

Maxima had a look of annoyance on her lovely face, but she said nothing. The look on Superman's face was reward enough. He had enjoyed the kiss. She knew that they would kiss again. She would let the princess speak to him in private. She was his closest ally and this was her home that had been attacked. She was no longer in a hurry. She stepped back from the object of her passion with a dazzling smile. "We will speak later, Kal-El."

"Um, yes. Yes, we will speak later Maxima. I'm glad that you are alright." Superman answered, still somewhat lost. He certainly wasn't against having that sort of experience again, but Diana's presence, words and touch brought him back to reality. He realized that the lasso was probably the reason for his reaction and knew that Diana was right. He did not want to end up saying something that would embarrass or hurt Diana or any of those present.

Diana led him back behind the throne just out of sight. Without thinking she started to tug at his shirt then stopped when she felt his strong arms wrap around her and pull her into an intimate embrace his face was buried in her hair. Her heart was racing. As nice as it felt to be in his arms she knew that she had to stop him. "Kal. The lasso. We need to get it off."

Diana's voice brought Superman back to his senses. He slowly and reluctantly let his arms drop to his side and he stepped back. "I'm sorry Diana. It's hard for me to control myself right now. You feel and smell so good. I want to.."

"Kal. The lasso. When we take it off you will be back in control of yourself." Diana interrupted him. She did not understand why the lasso was making Kal act so sensuously with her. The lasso never lied, but Kal was never like this. Of course she had never wrapped him up in her lasso either. Maybe it was being wrapped in the entire lasso that was making him behave so boldly with her. He seemed unable to control his desires and yet he was still gentle and sweet, not violently aggressive and his mind was clear enough that he could take back control his actions as soon as he realized what he was doing.

"Yes. We need to remove the lasso," Superman felt like his mind was clearer than it had ever been, but at the same time he knew that he was being affected by the magic of the lasso. He pulled his shirt up over his head and waited quietly for Diana to remove her lasso. When she again stepped up to him he kept his arms at his sides and smiled warmly at her. "Don't worry. I will behave myself."

Diana smiled back. She knew that he would. Working quietly and quickly she undid the knot on her lasso and removed it. She tried to avoid making too much physical contact with him. She knew that her touch was making it difficult for him. The way he was behaving with her since she wrapped him in the lasso was making it difficult for her as well. She marveled at the heat that came off of his body and at the power and definition of his bared torso. He was such a beautiful man in every way imaginable. She was thankful that he was her best friend. "There. Done. I release you from your bonds." Diana smiled up at him as she stepped back with her lasso again hanging from her belt.

Superman smiled back at her and put his shirt back on, "Thank you, if you ever need another prisoner, just let me know. It was fun being yours."

Both laughed. Diana was relieved that he was back to himself. They made their way back to group. 

Athena was still there. She was conversing with Hippolyta, Maxima, Batman and J'onn. She turned to Diana as she and Superman rejoined them. "Your mother does not wish to guard the dagger. Your friends believe that it would be safe locked away in the vault on the Watchtower. Princess Maxima has volunteered to take charge of placing the witches prison there. If all are in agreement then I will place the dagger into her charge.

Diana and Superman both looked somewhat shocked but both agreed that it was a very generous gesture.

Athena gave a final warning as she placed the dagger in Maxima's hands, "Do not let the dagger fall into the hands of a man or a double minded woman."

All agreed that there was nothing double minded about Maxima and she was definitely all woman.

Athena disappeared.

Maxima hid the dagger in the folds of her emerald gown and with an adoring look at Superman, headed back to the portal.

Diana and Donna embraced their mother in a victorious farewell. The queen thanked the League for their invaluable help. The crisis was over. Circe was imprisoned. No lives had been lost.

"Sorry to interrupt, but does anybody have an extra pair of shorts, pants, a towel, maybe even one of those ancient Greek robes…Hey! Our rings! J'onn, could you toss those to me?" Hal smiled cheerfully at everybody. "Circe took my clothes," he explained when he saw that all eyes were on him and most mouths were open in disbelief.


	10. Chapter 10

The Birthday Present

Chapter Nine

I Can Give You What You Need. I Can Give You What You Want.

Themyscira

The Palace

It was deathly quiet. The looks were of shock and disbelief. As usual, Wally was the first to recover. In a blur of motion he reached the three power rings and tossed them to Hal.

John and Kyle were standing just behind a pillar close to the door where they had entered. They wanted to have a quick and ready exit in case the Queen ordered Hal's execution.

Hal caught the three rings neatly and quickly put on his. He was instantly encased in green energy and clothed in his familiar green, black and white uniform. There was a grin of satisfaction on his face as he looked at the ring on his closed fist. "I'm back." He looked up at those assembled, "She did take my clothes, but we weren't having sex. I promise." He was looking at Diana when he said this.

Some of the shocked looks remained; some were transformed into bewildered ones.

"Hey! Anytime you feel like giving us our rings back would be great!" Kyle hollered from behind the pillar. He wasn't about to endanger himself or his stuff. He'd heard the stories of the queen's sword.

Hal returned John and Kyle's rings to them. The two gave a sigh of relief as they were enveloped in the green energy of their rings and clothed in their familiar costumes.

Shayera shook her head at Hal.

Wally couldn't stop grinning. "So Circe took your clothes but wouldn't have sex with you? That must have been devastating for you. I mean, what a witch!"

"We are glad that you three are still with us. It seems that Circe was intent on killing all of us and you three were the first she attacked," J'onn spoke for all of the League members. "I hope that your rings will cloth you adequately for now."

It was quiet for a moment again. Batman finally broke the silence, "J'onn, are the stationed Amazons, Geo-force, Powergirl, Aquaman, Mera and Jade still with us?"

J'onn closed his eyes as he reached out with his mind, "They are all with us and unharmed," he replied with relief as he opened his eyes.

Batman touched his earpiece, "Paradise team to Watchtower. Operation successful. No casualties. Team will be teleporting home momentarily."

Queen Hippolyta, Phillipus, Diana, Donna, Starfire and Zatanna were all gathered around the throne. Maxima was almost to the room behind the throne that housed the portal. All were staring at Hal; the queen, Phillipus and Diana in disbelief, Zatanna and Donna in amusement, Starfire looked very puzzled, Maxima looked mildly curious.

Once the three Lanterns were again in uniform Maxima continued through the portal. Upon exiting into the embassy she contacted the Watchtower. "I am ready to be teleported on board," she said touching her earpiece.

Watchtower

"Dinah! They're all alive! Everything is fine!" Blue Beetle was shouting with excitement. He was so excited that he shouted it into his open com-link. Everyone heard it.

Dinah gave an audible sigh of relief. She could not imagine a world without those they had thought dead. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she composed herself and touched her earpiece, "Black Canary to all active patrols. Crisis is over, I repeat, Crisis is over. Paradise team is alive and well. Continue patrols until called home."

There were audible cheers throughout the watchtower as well as over the com-links from those on patrol.

Metropolis

Ollie dropped his head in relief. He liked to give the big guns a hard time but he had nothing but respect for them. He could not imagine what life would have been like without the big, blue Boy Scout, the lovely princess, pointy ears, J'onn and crazy Wally. He would no longer have the opportunity to rile Hawkman or Hal or stare at Powergirl's boobs or Zatanna's legs. Life would truly have become bleak.

"What's the matter?"

Ollie looked up, remembering where he was and what he was doing. He thought that this dark haired reporter doll had a very sexy, if slightly bossy, voice. She seemed to be able to pull off the, "I'm sexy" and the "I'm bossy" and the "I'm always in charge" look and attitude very well. She just seemed to meld the three looks and attitudes together seamlessly. It made Ollie wonder if he couldn't change the tone of her voice and the look on her face if he got her into bed.

"Nothing is the matter anymore. Our big guns are alright." Ollie responded.

Lois was shocked, "What do you mean, anymore? They were in danger? You thought they were gone?

"So are we having this interview here? Now?" Ollie teased. This lady sure seemed to be overreacting.

"The Justice League is always in danger, Miss. This time it just seemed a little more scary than usual, but everyone is alright. Why don't you meet me later tonight in the lobby of the Metropolitan and we'll continue this interview?" Ollie went ahead and took the plunge.

Lois was still in shock from the news. So Clark had almost been killed, or close to it. She could tell this man had been worried by the intensity of his reaction to her appearance on the roof and the relief when he had received the positive news. Stepping forward she handed the big, tall, blond Robin Hood her card. "Call this number when you get to the Metropolitan. Let me know how I'll recognize you. I assume you won't be sitting there waiting for me dressed like that. I'll have not much more than an hour to spare, if that, tonight."

Ollie smiled as he looked at her card. She was playing hard to get this Lois Lane. The name sounded familiar. She must be one of the Daily Planet's star reporters. As pretty as she was, he could tell from her posture and her voice that she had gotten to where she was on more than her looks. She would be a tough one to crack. She would want to pretend to be all about business. But he was confident that he would be able to break through that wall. There were very few women he had set out to conquer that he had failed to do so, and none in the last ten years. "That's great, Miss Lane. I'll call you around seven."

Lois smiled briefly and then disappeared back down the stairs.

Maxima was the first to be beamed back up to the Watchtower. She immediately found her way to Black Canary, "I must place the witch's prison in the vault."

Dinah was taken aback at first, "You have Circe?" she asked incredulously.

Maxima showed her the dagger. She held it through the folds of her gown. "This is where she was imprisoned by the goddesses of the Amazons. We are now responsible for her continued imprisonment and so I am honor bound to see that this magical dagger is placed in the vault where it will be safe."

"Of course. Supergirl will go with you." Touching her earpiece she requested that Supergirl accompany Maxima to the vault and that Steel unlock the vault upon their arrival.

Supergirl was more than happy to accompany Maxima. "So what does the dagger look like?" she asked.

"It is beautiful and deadly," Maxima answered as she showed Supergirl the witch's prison.

"Wow. That is lovely and scary. So Circe is in there? That is so freaky," She responded.

They arrived at the vault. The door hissed open as Steel released the lock several floors away. Supergirl and Maxima entered. The vault was a very large room. There were shelves and shelves of artifacts, weapons and other objects considered too dangerous to be left on earth or anywhere else in the universe where they could fall into the wrong hands. Every shelf and containment chamber had a special force shield around it. Only a select few with access could disable the shields. Maxima was fairly new to the League and she did not have such access. Neither did Supergirl for that matter. Steel, however, did.

He disabled the force shield in the center of the room for one of the more heavy duty shelving units. It was like a vault within a vault. The dagger would be kept within a safe made from kryptonian crystals and Thanagarian nth metal. The safe would have a force shield and the shelving unit would have another.

Maxima removed the knife from the folds of her gown. Touching the dagger for the first time with her bare hands, she nicked her finger. She heard a voice in her head and knew instantly that it was the witch. The voice was melodious, sweet and hypnotizing.

"I can give you Superman."


	11. Chapter 11

The Birthday Present

Chapter 10

It's Been A Long Day. Let's All Go Home.

Aquaman and Mera did not teleport to the Watchtower; after paying their respects to the Queen They headed back to Atlantis. The rest of the team was assembled in the throne room ready to walk through the portal to the embassy. From there most would teleport to the Watchtower.

Wonder Woman, Superman, J'onn, Zatanna, Donna, Flash, Batman, the Lanterns, the Hawks, Jade, Starfire, Powergirl and Geo-force stood together close to the Portal Room, behind the throne. They were all pleased with how the plan had turned out. There would be much celebrating both on Themyscira and on the Watchtower. No lives had been lost. Such a one sided victory was almost unheard of among the Amazons.

All of the Leaguers were prepared to go home. Donna stopped suddenly, "I'm going to stay with mother for a while," she said looking at Diana. "This could have been the end for all of us. I think I want to just stay and be with her for a few days before I pick up where I left off out there."

Diana paused for a moment as well. "You are right, Donna. I too will stay here for a few days, just to be close to mother." Turning to the others she said, "Donna and I will see you in a few days, my friends. Please forgive this unplanned decision. I will make up shifts when I return." As she stepped away from the group and next to her sister, she briefly made eye contact with Superman and smiled warmly.

"Your apology is not unnecessary nor will you need to make up any shifts, Diana. You and Donna stay as long as you need with your family. We are all thankful that we were able to help and that all that you love is whole," J'onn responded in his deep, kind voice.

The rest of the League members all nodded their agreement with his response.

Diana and Donna smiled in thanks for their friends' understanding. Donna stepped forward and gave Wally a peck on the cheek then she and Diana turned back to the throne room.

"Diana, if you need anything…" Superman started, deep concern written on his face.

Diana stopped and turned back for a moment. Her face was still and there was a warm smile on her lips."Thank you, Kal. We will be fine. Let those that love you know that you are well. I will see you in few days." With that she and Donna returned to the throne room.

Bryon and Karen shared a look and a knowing smile.

Batman noted the gesture, but kept quiet as he observed his best friend.

Wally stood frozen in shock and disbelief. To be honest, everyone was a bit taken aback.

Kyle and Hal were also staring at him open mouthed.

Superman finally cleared his throat, "We, should probably, um, get, um, going."

"That was very well said, Clark." Batman smirked.

Zatanna giggled.

"I'm never gonna wash my face again!" Wally shouted as they stepped through the portal.

"Why would you never again wash your face? Wouldn't you eventually give off offensive odors?" asked Starfire.

"Yeah, Wally. If you want her to kiss you again then you better seriously rethink your plans for the future. I know that I certainly won't kiss you on the cheek anymore if you stop washing your face," Kyle stated. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that nobody here will kiss you again if you stop washing your face. Look at what happened to Jade. I forgot to wash my face one time, and the next time she kissed me she turned green! Granted, she looks really hot with green skin, but we don't need two hot green girls in the League at the same time. It's just overkill.

Jade elbowed Kyle in the ribs playfully.

"Well, there's Fire. She's green and hot. Well, okay. Her skin isn't green but she is hot. Not like Donna hot, but you know what I mean," Wally responded enthusiastically. He liked where this conversation was going.

"Hal looked at Kyle and Wally and shook his head, "Okay, just want to point out that there is no such thing as 'hot green girl' overkill. There is no such thing as 'too many' hot girls. That was really poorly thought out. Oh, and did you all notice how Diana almost kissed me. That girl has some serious willpower. Looked like she had to use every ounce of her considerable Amazon training just to be able to turn and walk away! Wow! What a woman!"

"Yeah, she was really struggling there at the end," Zatanna responded sarcastically.

"That is strange. I did not notice her using all of her Amazonian training," Starfire replied. She wondered if perhaps Hal was having trouble with his eyes.

They were all in the Embassy now. Mala greeted them all warmly. "Thank you, friends, Themyscira will be eternally grateful for your help. Every time that Circe or Ares have attacked us in the past, many Amazons have paid with their lives."

"You can always count on us to do everything in our power to help, Mala," Superman promised with a smile.

"Anything, anytime, Gorgeo…Ouch!" Hal shouted rubbing the back of his left arm and looking around for the offending party.

John stood just behind him, "Keep it in your pants, Loverboy."

Watchtower

There were more shouts of joy, tears, laughter and lots of hugging as the "Big Guns" arrived on the Watchtower.

No one was happier or more relieved than Dinah. She even gave Batman a hug.

Nobody gave Batman a hug. It had been unheard of until Zatanna and he started dating. She had made it a point to hug him frequently in front of others. While he had seemed to eventually take to this new open display of affection, (he even managed not to scowl while being hugged) his look made it clear that non Zatanna hugs were not welcome.

"I'm so sorry!" Dinah had apologized. "I couldn't help myself. I'm just so glad that you're all alive!"

Dinah had moved onto J'onn and Superman. Both had returned her hug warmly.

Next she hugged Hal. "I'm so glad that you're alright," she sniffed.

Hal held her tightly to himself for a moment. "Me too. For a moment there I thought I was a goner. I have to say it was pretty humiliating being turned into a pig by a witch."

Dinah stepped back from Hal and broke into giggles. "Circe turned you into a pig? Like a little pink one with a curly tail? Like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web?"

"Yeah. Like that. But don't worry. I wasn't alone. Kyle became a pig as well so that he could rescue me," Hal smiled. As big of a lady's man as he was, he never went after a woman who was married to or involved with a friend. He and Ollie were close friends and he and Dinah had been close for quite some time. He had never been anything but a gentleman with her.

Looking around Hal asked, "Where's Ollie? I thought he'd wanna give his best buddy a big hug and kiss just for being alive. Does he want me to steal his girl or something?" Hal said jokingly. He stopped joking when he saw the look on Dinah's face.

"Ollie and I are done. I know you two are good friends, so I'm not going to stand here and talk about him. I'll just say that I've had my fill of his infidelities." Dinah's face was dead serious.

Hal could see the hurt in Dinah's eyes, as well as anger. He pulled her into another hug. "I'm sorry, Dinah. Ollie's my friend. Since Barry died I haven't had a closer one, but he's a fool to treat you like that. It's his loss. You forget about him. If he can't respect you then he's not worth your grief."

"Thank you, Hal," Dinah said quietly as she allowed herself to become lost in the friendly hug for a moment. She knew she was the only unmarried female on the Watchtower that Hal did not openly pursue. It gave her a sense of security and confidence. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to have him as a lover, but the thought was dismissed as soon as it entered her mind.

After a few moments they disentangled themselves. "We all have to fill out reports right now and discuss what happened, but I'll be here if you want to talk later," Hal promised.

Dinah smiled. "Thanks, Hal. I'd like that."

As they made their way to the conference room where the continuing sounds of celebration could be heard, Supergirl came out of the elevator and joined them. She was excited to see her cousin. "Hi Hal!" she said cheerfully as she struggled to keep from super speeding into the conference room and squeezing Clark as hard as she could.

"Hi, Kara," Hal replied warmly.

"Where's Maxima?" Dinah asked.

"Oh, she went to her room to lie down. She seemed really tired. I thought she'd want to take the opportunity to flirt with Clark but she said she would tomorrow," Kara giggled.

"Oh," Dinah responded satisfied.

"How does he do it? Space Princesses, Earth Princesses, Evil Princesses. They all want Superman and he doesn't even try."

Dinah looked at him exasperated. "It's pretty simple. He's what most women dream about in a man. There's the obvious looks. Very few guys come close to matching his physique and that's saying a lot considering how good the majority of the guys in the League look. Then there is the way he speaks to and treats all of the ladies. When have you or anybody seen Superman be anything but a gentleman? There's his gentle nature, his kindness, his character, his…"

"Okay, okay, I get it. He's the ultimate man. Every woman's wet dream." Hal responded with a chuckle. "I guess he even has super manners and super charm. It makes sense, if his name is Superman then he's got be super in every way!"

"Hal. I don't think women have those. You guys are on your own there," Dinah said as they entered the conference room.

The report took a while. The written reports took longer. Finally all was done. It was late afternoon. Most of the Leaguers teleported to their respective homes, a few stayed in their rooms on board the Watchtower. Steel had monitor duty.

Metropolis

Superman blurred into his and Lois's apartment. He quickly changed into his civilian clothes and called Lois's cell.

"Clark! You're back!" Lois nearly screamed over the phone. She quickly left the newsroom after receiving several annoyed looks. Lowering her voice she asked, "Are you home?"

"I am," Clark chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Are you going to be home soon? It's already five. Should I meet you somewhere?"

"No. I'll come straight home. I was supposed to meet one of your teammates, the one that looks like Robin Hood, for an interview at seven, but I can cancel. I'd rather spend the rest of the evening having a super time in bed with a certain mild mannered husband of mine. Of course, if you exhaust your wife before seven then maybe I could still get that interview with Robin Hood and we could pay that Dr. Williams a nice visit," Lois said enthusiastically.

"Come home, Mrs. Kent. I try my hardest to give my wife a good time. So you're going to interview the Green Arrow? Should I be worried? He has quite a reputation with the ladies. I seem to remember hearing a conversation between the Green Arrow and one of the Green Lanterns. I think he said that one woman he had seduced had climaxed just looking at him naked. I guess I better go all out on you when you get home. Let's see if I can't make you climax before I touch you," Clark joked.

"Clark Kent! I can't believe you're talking dirty over the phone! Just be glad that these phones are secure! I'll be home in a minute." Lois laughed.

"Stop making threats and hurry up," Clark hung up with a mischievous smile and blurred to get ready for Lois.

Watchtower

There were a dozen Leaugers aboard. Other than Steel and four of Maxima's body guards, all were sleeping. Maxima had twelve body guards that had come with her and stayed when she joined the League. Two were stationed near her star ship, two were stationed outside of her room. The rest were asleep.

Princess Maxima slept. But she was tortured with dreams and voices. After a while all she heard was one voice. It was a very sweet voice. It made promises. Promises she wanted to come true with all of her heart. There was a part of her dream that she found disturbing. She saw a young woman that looked just like her leaving the vault with a beautiful bejeweled dagger buried in the folds of her gown. There was also an empty sheath at her waist. It looked familiar. She wondered where the blade was. She knew the blade had a golden handle with the symbol of the house of Almerac on it, but try as she might she could not see it or find it. She wished that she could see the young woman's face. She needed to talk to her.

The beautiful fiery red headed young woman finally turned around. She had her face, but there was something not quite right. It seemed everything was just like hers, but for a moment she could have sworn that her green eyes had looked violet.


	12. Chapter 12

The Birthday Present

Chapter 11

Horny Couples, Bloody Fingers, Bloody Noses

"We have an hour and a half to fool around before the Green Arrow steals you from me for good. Let's see if I can't do something that will make you chose me instead. Hmmm. Let me think. Oh, I know! I could let you look at my chest for a couple of minutes!" Clark said with wicked grin plastered all over his face.

"Wow, Clark. You are so romantic. We can try that, but I have to tell you that I'm not sure a couple of minutes of chest gazing will give me enough will power to resist such a big, hot man as Green Arrow. Especially if he can make a girl climax just by looking at him," Lois replied with an equally wicked grin as she gazed up expectantly into Clark's eyes.

"Well, okay. I guess I could let you look at it for three minutes. But we don't want to overdo it too much. Last time we did that you got a nose bleed from getting over stimulated. Remember?" Clark pointed out matter of factly as he pulled Lois into a careful hug.

Lois chuckled at his humor and hugged him back as hard as she could. Looking up at him she asked, already knowing the answer, "Feel anything?"

"Of course. Super senses and all that," He smiled warmly down at her.

Lois sighed. Her body ached to feel his attentions and she knew that she would not be disappointed but she was dying to return the favor. If she were just a little bit more irresponsible she would have insisted that he have red sun lamps installed in their bedroom. But knowing that he might be needed at any moment and that just as he slowly lost his powers in a red sun environment it also took him a few minutes to return to normal once out of that sort of environment, minutes that could spell death for him, those in need of saving or both. So she never suggested it.

Lois closed her eyes and pressed herself to his chest. Then pushed back away teasingly, "I'm gonna go freshen up a little bit. See you in a few minutes, Handsome."

Clark smiled and let her go. He watched as she practically ran into the bathroom to ready herself for their evening. He would have to go easy on her. He knew she had her mind set on interviewing Dr. Williams about his new 'Swingers' Club.

Clark wondered what went through a man or woman's mind when they were willingly sharing their spouse or significant other with another person.

Could it really be healthy for the relationship? Could they continue to have healthy intimacy with their spouse and not resent that they had willingly enjoyed sex with someone else?

He supposed that there were those who would truly enjoy it and for a moment he wondered what it would be like to share his bed with more than one woman and what woman or women he would want to share his bed with.

Almost as soon as the thought entered his mind, he stopped himself and blushed at what and who he had just thought about. He realized that his thoughts had not been about letting another man be with Lois but of himself, having multiple partners. He knew that the former thought was not something he would ever willingly be a party to so he had no right to even consider the latter. Shaking his head at the images dancing through it, he pushed the thoughts from his mind as he stepped into the bedroom.

Lois was on the bed waiting for him with a lovely black teddy she had picked out a couple of weeks prior. She smiled dreamily up at him. "Come here, Smallville, and show this big town girl what a country boy can do."

Clark smiled, stripped down, sat on the edge of the bed and scooped Lois up and sat her on his lap facing him. Supporting her back with one hand he leaned into her and began planting kisses along her shoulders and neck and face.

Lois closed her eyes. Her body was on fire and she trembled at his gentle and tender attentions. "Whoever named you, Smallville, should be taken out back and shot. There is absolutely nothing "small" about you. I know. I've had a good look. I'm looking right now."

Clark smiled down at her as he pulled her straps down from her shoulders, "Oh, I don't know. I think she's just too pretty to be dragged out back and shot. Maybe I could torture her for a little while until she's sorry for what she has done. Then I could let her go."

"What if she never wants you to let her go?" Lois moaned as Clark nipped her ear lobe.

"Well then, at least she'll never have the chance to call anybody else, Smallville,"  
Clark said caressed another moan from her.

After that, there was a lot of moaning and very little talking.

Star City

Queen Industries Towers

Penthouse Suite

Ollie had contacted Blue Beetle privately and had him teleport him directly home. He was glad everyone was alright but he wanted to give Dinah some more time before he tried to convince her to take him back.

He gave a grunt of satisfaction as he materialized into his comfortable and familiar surroundings.

Divesting himself of his uniform and weapons he showered and prepared for his interview date with the pretty reporter from Metropolis.

Metropolis

The More The Merrier. It was the new club owned by Dr. Williams. All who joined were looking for a little adventure with the consent and willing participation of his or her spouse.

The club was spacious. Beautiful young women attended every table and danced sensuously on stage. There were several 'back rooms' and two floors of rooms for the patrons to practice their merry sharing in.

Dr. Williams sat at a stool watching everyone. It was still early evening and the club was just slowly filling up. He would have his hands and his bed full in a little while. He enjoyed interviewing new couples and convincing them to join. He always made it a point of convincing the woman that her mate was not enough for her sexual needs and of getting the man to consent to his wife having sex with him to prove his point.

Dr. Williams interviewed every couple and single female that entered the club. In fact there was not a single female who had been allowed to join that had not had sex with him first. A fact he was quite proud of. H was looking forward to another busy night.

"Mr. Lord?" It was a woman's voice. The voice belonged to an attractive brown haired woman flashing a badge at him.

Dr. Williams looked at her annoyed for a moment but then he smiled. "It's Dr. Williams, and I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure."

"I'm agent Jones. Margo Jones. I'm here to ask you about a fellow agent of mine. She disappeared a few weeks ago. Last I heard she was supposed to visit your club following a lead in a drug case we were working on." Agent Jones passed him a picture of a young attractive blond female in her late twenties, "Does she look familiar to you?" she asked studying his face closely.

Dr. Williams looked at the picture for a moment. "She doesn't look familiar but we get so many attractive young woman coming through that door that, to be honest, there are probably very few here that I would be able to point out to you in a crowd. I'm very sorry about your friend. Hope she resurfaces again soon." As he said this he stood up from his bar stool, straightened his jacket and turned to leave. "Please feel free to stay as long as you like and if you need some entertainment for yourself, I can promise you that everyone here is very discreet and no one will be the wiser if you wish it to stay a secret.

"Why thank you, Mr. Lord. That is very kind of you. Actually, I find it rather interesting that you used the word 'resurface' because that is exactly what my friend did. She resurfaced as a corpse in the Metropolis River several days ago. She was full of the drug that she was trying to track down. Her last transmission said that she had tracked it here to your new club and that your true name was Maxwell Lord. Any of this sound familiar to you?" Her voice was cold and her right hand was on her weapon.

Dr. Williams stopped dead in his tracks and turned around slowly. His eyes were annoyed but he spoke calmly, "My name is Dr. Williams. I do not know why anyone would think that my name is Maxwell Lord. I do not sell coffee nor am I a god or king. If you wish to speak more to me I suggest you come join me in my office. I do not like guns or weapons of any kind in my establishment. You'll notice there are no bouncers here. Everyone is here of their own free will and no one has any need for causing trouble or taking strange drugs." As he said this he stepped up to agent Jones and grasped her elbow firmly but gently and began to walk the suddenly docile agent up the stairs to his office. As he closed the door behind them he pulled out a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped a little bit of blood from his nose.

Watchtower

Princess Maxima's Chambers

Maxima awoke from her troubled sleep. She saw that she had only slept a couple of hours but she felt as if she had not slept in weeks. She could not explain her sudden lethargy. She had not been in battle nor had she participated in any strenuous training in the last couple of days. She knew that most of the Leaguers were probably off station at the moment and wondered if any of those present would be able and willing to spar with her for a bit.

Her best sparring partners were Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Superboy, Powergirl, the Marvels, and Big Barda. J'onn wasn't bad but he either went too easy on her or defeated her too quickly. She always enjoyed sparring with Superman. She knew that he always let her win and he took it way too easy on her but it gave her a chance to be alone with him and touch him more than she normally had the chance to.

She smiled as she remembered his promise to 'talk to her again and soon.' She knew that he had liked the kiss as much as she had and she knew she would get her chance again soon.

It annoyed her that he spent so much time in the company of the Amazon princess, but she knew that they had been close friends for a very long time and she respected her as an ally and one who had helped defend her home world against the warlord Mongul. The battle had turned into a rescue as her armada had scattered across the space sectors and she and her twelve body guards had barely escaped with their lives.

Maxima pushed the depressing thoughts of her home world away and stood up from the bed. She dressed in green and gold body armor and noted with annoyance that her finger was still bleeding from the cut she had received from Circe's prison dagger.

She quickly wrapped it, grabbed one of her swords and left her room to head for the monitor station. Her body guards started to follow but she smiled and dismissed them. "I do not need an escort here. We are among friends and allies. Go. Take your leisure. I will be in the training room exercising if you need to reach me."

The two body guards had just recently started to become accustomed to Maxima's rare smiles and kinder nature. She had always been rather spoiled and bossy although never truly cruel.

"As you wish, my Princesss," her guard answered in unison and departed for their quarters.

Maxima made her way to the monitoring station. Steel was on duty. He had removed his helmet and was busy scanning the weapons room and the vault. When she entered he looked up and smiled.

"Good evening, Princess Maxima. That was quite a scare we had earlier today, wasn't it?" John asked in greeting.

"It was, friend Steel. But we all should have known that Superman is not so easily defeated, let alone killed," Maxima said with great pride and unhidden affection.

Steel chuckled and nodded his head. "That is very true. He is a good man and he never ceases to amaze me. But then I am completely biased when it comes to Superman. I'm alive today and the man that I am because of him. To be perfectly honest, I have found every one of the Leaguers that was present on Themyscira today to be amazing. And you can call me John or John Henry if you like. I don't mind. It's my name and we are all allies here."

Maxima nodded her head. "Yes, I suppose all of the other heroes are amazing in their own way, friend John Henry." Changing the subject she asked, "Who is here on the Watchtower that would be able and willing to spare with me in the combat room?"

John checked the roster. "Well there are twelve Leaguers including you and I and your twelve body guards. Let's see, there are Black Canary, Fire, Captain Atom, Booster, Metamorpho, J'onn, Vixen, John, Hal and Huntress. Looks like that's it.

Maxima thought for a moment. "I would not mind seeing Hal Jordan once more."


	13. Chapter 13

The Birthday Present

Chapter 12

Sometimes It's Good To Think About Things. Some Things.

Hal lay naked and slumbering on his bed. He hadn't planned on falling asleep. He had just taken a shower and had sat on the edge of his bed wondering if he really wanted to leave his days of adventurous love behind and truly settle down with Wonder Woman.

He had been going over the pros and cons.

The Pros:

She was, hands down, the most beautiful woman in the universe. And Hal had been all over the universe, so he knew what he was talking about.

His only competition for her was married so he was no longer competition.

Every single man who had ever laid eyes on her wanted a chance with her. This, of course, would make him, "Da Man."

She wanted him.

This thought brought a big smile to his face. That witch was something else! Who would have thought that such an evil being would end up playing match maker?

She was a virgin. Now that was truly an awesome and exciting thought. It had been several years since he had dated a virgin and while the ones he had been with were truly attractive and fun, the ones he had dated didn't tend to stay virgins for very long, and, of course, none of them compared to Diana. He would have lots of fun showing Diana what lovemaking was all about.

She had a really hot costume. Sometimes she got wedgies and didn't notice right away, much to the Hal's and many of the other male heroes delight.

She had a golden lasso. He could think of dozens of ways of using her lasso that didn't involve telling the truth.

The Cons:

Diana was stronger than him, a lot stronger than him. If he didn't have his ring fully charged, she could break his back or crush Little Hal. He squirmed at the thought.

He would no longer have his freedom. This meant that when he saw an attractive girl or woman who was obviously interested in him that he would have to walk away. This thought also made him squirm. It hurt almost as bad. What if after he had to walk away some other man showed up and took the woman who had shown interest in him. The thought made him a little bit upset. Just let him try it!

Superman. What if Superman's wife died all of a sudden and he came and took Diana away from him. He could see Superman coming to his house beating him up and walking away from his house dragging a disturbingly happy Diana by the hair. This thought nearly made him cry. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be such a bully? And why did Diana have to be so crazy happy about the whole thing? He was dragging her by the hair for crying out loud!

Maybe he could just explain to Diana that he couldn't really be pinned down. He could give her all the physical loving she needed whenever she wanted provided she didn't deny him his freedom. Yes. That would probably be best. An honest open relationship based on wild sex and no commitments. Not some shallow, "Only You" nonsense.

Hal smiled at how well things were shaping up then he was suddenly nervous again. What if she wanted an exclusive relationship? What if she turned out to be petty and jealous and maybe a little bit violent? What if the compassionate understanding side of her was only a façade?

He shivered as he pictured himself strapped to a chair without his power ring and Diana screaming at him and throwing dishes at the wall. He wondered where she got her violent streak from.

Perhaps it would be best if he just let her down easy. Tell her that it wouldn't work. Hal didn't mind kinky, but violent and jealous, just weren't his thing.

The knock at the door made him realize he had been sleeping.

Hal leaped up. He couldn't remember who was coming to spend the evening with him. Helena or Beatriz? He was pretty sure it wasn't both. Each was rather kinky and horny in her own way but neither seemed to be into threesomes. It was a shame he thought. They didn't know what they were missing.

He flung open the door and froze. Maxima stood there, lovely as ever, and with a sword in her hand.

Hal's thoughts had ranged from happy inducing to scared to death. At the moment Little Hal was somewhere in between and the towel was on the bed.

Maxima had a smile on her face. She looked him up and down thoroughly. "It is good to see you again, Hal Jordan. I see that you are once again without your clothes. I was wondering if you would like to spar with me in the combat room. You may come as you are or in your Green Lantern uniform. It does not matter to me."

Hal stared at her for a moment then closed the door quickly and shouted, "I'm coming!"

===M===

Metropolis

The Metropolitan

Ollie sat in the lobby. He'd flown back to Metropolis in his private jet. He was looking at the card that the reporter Lois Lane had given him. He was certain that she would find a mortal hero just as interesting as a seemingly immortal one. And unlike Superman, he could show her a good time both in bed without killing her and take her out on the town.

His mind made up, he made the call.

===M===

Metropolis

Clark and Lois's apartment.

Clark lay on his back staring at the ceiling. There was a smile on his face. He felt satisfied. Not sexually, but in general.

Lois was tucked tightly against his left side, one arm draped across his broad muscular torso possessively. She was sound asleep with an exhausted and happy look on her face.

His wife was happy.

He thought back to the adventure of the day on Themyscira. They had won without any casualties and now Circe was imprisoned, hopefully for several millennia to come. He remembered J'onn, Bruce's and Zatanna's plan. It had been brilliantly executed. He shuddered at the plans that Circe had for Diana and her family.

He wondered how anyone could think and do such cruel things to another living being. He vowed never to let anyone harm Diana. He would die before that happened.

A smile touched his lips as he remembered their many adventures together, both alone and with others of the League. Diana was a friend he would treasure for all time. He blushed a little as he recalled the moments they had earlier near Dooms Doorway and again behind the throne.

Wrapped in her lasso, she had seemed to be his truth. He had felt that everything else was wrong. He felt embarrassed at his forward behavior and marveled at her composure and understanding. She had not rejected him with disdain but reminded him of his commitments. She had shown that she loved him but at the same time she had shown him and his loved ones respect and demanded it as well.

While under the influence of the lasso he had wanted to shout that he had made the biggest mistake of his life when he had walked away like a coward from exploring a chance with Diana. But it was too late now. He had made his choices. He would have to live with them and be respectful to his best friend and to his wife.

Lois's cell phone rang. Clark smiled as Lois turned her naked athletic body away from him and reached for her phone. She was still half asleep.

He chuckled as she held it upside down for a few seconds in silence before finally answering with a grunt. She suddenly sat up wide awake. Her pert breasts dangling tantalizingly near his face. "Clark! What time is it?"

"Almost seven," he replied.

Lois put her phone back to her ear. "I'm so sorry. I can't make it right now. I may be able to make it either later tonight or another night this week. I have an important interview right now that I'm going to be late for. Yes. I have your number right here on my phone. I'll call you if things change."

Lois hung up her phone, leaped from the bed and raced into the bathroom to get ready for the interview with Dr. Williams.

Clark stood up and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He listened with amusement as Lois banged around in the bathroom getting ready.

Finishing his glass of water he went back into the bedroom and dressed quickly. His six foot six, broad and thickly muscled frame disappeared beneath his oversized clothes and his distinctive eyes behind a pair of thick glasses. The rebellious S curl, which Diana was always batting at, was drowned in his thick bangs that moved down onto his forehead. Flowing effortlessly into his mild mannered disguise, Clark slouched slightly and changed the tenor of his voice to a slightly higher pitch.

He sat in the living room waiting patiently for Lois. While he waited he carefully scanned the city with his super hearing checking for any crimes or danger. All seemed quiet. Just as Lois joined him in the living room his JLA communicator went off. It was Steel.

"What is it Steel?" he asked in his normal voice.

"I'm sorry to bother you with this. We have others capable and willing to handle this but Cyborg Superman just appeared out of nowhere. He's holding a small clinic in California hostage and has threatened to start executing hostages in ten minutes if you don't show up personally," John explained.

"Okay, Steel. I'll go. If J'onn is available I would like him to meet me there," Clark accepted. He looked at Lois apologetically. "Looks like we're going to have to postpone that Dr. Williams interview again."

"You mean, you aren't going to be able to make the interview again. I'm not postponing this time. Go take out Henshaw. I think I can handle a slimy club owner on my own Clark," Lois said defiantly.

"I know that you know how to take care of yourself, but this is a murder investigation and I don't want my wife putting herself in danger," Clark insisted.

"I'm going. Not changing my mind," Lois remained steadfast.

Clark looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, "Alright. Be careful. And I'm calling in someone to shadow you."

'You are not!" Lois said indignantly.

Clark pulled her to him and kissed her shutting her up. "Oh, I am. I'm not taking chances with my wife. I'll see you later."

With that he blurred out the window towards California.

===M===

The More The Merrier

Dr. Williams gazed down at the bound and gagged agent Margo. "You know, you really are a lovely woman and very fit. I want to thank you for answering all of my questions so willingly these past two hours. I was thinking maybe I could mind control you and keep you here a little longer. I believe you and I would hit it off nicely, but you are a badge. That means trouble. So I'm going to have to get rid of you. Still, I see no reason why we couldn't spend some quality time together first. After all this is a swingers club. Why else would you be here, right?"

Agent Margo's eye's went wide. Her skin crawled at the thought of her captor touching her.

"Yes, I know. I'm excited about it as well, but I'm afraid we're going to have to wait a few more minutes." He was looking at a security monitor on the wall. "I believe an appointment has just arrived. Don't worry. I won't be far and you'll be asleep." He smiled down at her wickedly as he injected her with a heavy dose of the drug 'Easy'.

Within seconds, agent Jones lay flaccidly on the bed. Her eyes were glazed over. Dr. Williams hit a button that slid a panel on the wall back and stepped from his hidden room into his office then down the stairs to greet the Daily Planet reporter.


	14. Chapter 14

The Birthday Present

Chapter 13

Being Mind Controlled Can Really Suck

California

Superman And J'onn floated high in the sky above the clinic that Henshaw was holding hostage. Superman was scanning the clinic to locate the hostages and the enemy. He did not like what he saw.

"What is it, my friend?" J'onn asked, seeing the disturbed look on Superman's face.

"Henshaw and the captives are not in the clinic. There's nobody…wait a minute. They are there. There is a tunnel underneath the clinic. He has them down there. Looks like he's taken them into a cave and Henshaw is not alone. Metallo is with him." Superman was irritated. "Great. Now we have two cyborgs to deal with. One is like a living computer and the other runs around shooting kryptonite beams from several parts of his anatomy."

"We will defeat them and save the hostages. You and I have faced worse odds and been victorious. Let us leave our communicators. Henshaw may have a way of hacking into them. We will maintain mental contact." J'onn reassured him.

Superman nodded his head in agreement. "You're right, J'onn. My mind was on Lois. I didn't want her doing this interview alone. Something is not right about that club owner. I just know it."

"I understand your desire to protect your wife, but you trust Batman to have sent someone competent to shadow her, do you not?" J'onn asked knowing the answer.

"Yes, of course I do. Nightwing and Batgirl will let no harm come to her and they are in direct contact with the Watchtower. Okay, J'onn, I'm ready and focused. Metallo is at the front of the group deeper down in the tunnel. Henshaw is closer to the entrance of the tunnel. If you could find it in your heart to take out Metallo for me, I would be most grateful. That way I can focus my attention on Henshaw."

J'onn nodded his head in agreement and gave a smile at his humor. "You will not have to worry about Metallo, my friend." J'onn's eyes seemed faraway for a moment as he reached out to Steel on the Watchtower mentally. "Friend Steel, this is J'onn J'onnz. Superman and I will be turning off our communicators but will be in contact with you telepathically."

J'onn waited for John Henry to respond in the affirmative then turned to Superman. "I am ready. Let us free these hostages from the maniacs that hold them."

Superman nodded. Without a word the two blurred down to the clinic.

=========================M========================

Metropolis

The More the Merrier

A young attractive couple sat alone at a small table inside of the new swingers club. The girl was dressed in a short green dress and high heels. She was about five foot five in height. She was slender and athletic in build with just the right amount of feminine curves. Her thick, orange red hair came down to her shoulders. She had lovely green eyes. She had one of those faces that could light up a room when she smiled. At the same time she could so alter her expression that one would feel in danger just from her gaze. Right now she was not smiling nor was she looking dangerous. Her eyes were scanning the vast interior of the club in a mildly amused and curious manner.

Hidden in her right ear she had a small communicator. Her date had one as well. He was five foot ten. His clothes concealed a very well muscled physique. It was almost imperceptible but his body seemed to ache to be on the move. As hyper as his body was his face seemed calm. He had deep blue eyes set in a very young and handsome face. His eyes normally sparkled with humor and his tongue with wit and he had a shock of thick, black hair that came down over his ears. This was also very convenient because he too had a communicator in his right ear.

Like his lovely date, he was scanning the club with apparent interest. "Okay, Babs. Here they come. The bug you planted on her when you bumped on the street is recording nicely." His words were drowned out with the loud upbeat music, but he came in loud and clear over her ear piece.

"Thank you, Dick," Babs whispered back with small smile. "Here they come."

Both watched as Dr. Williams walked towards the stairs he had just descended with Lois Lane in tow. He looked very confident. Lois looked a little bit nervous but determined. When they reached the stairs Dr. Williams leaned over and said something in her ear. "I'm so glad you decided to come alone. I must confess that I enjoy the company of an attractive woman so much more than the company of a woman and a man. Although, I must say that it is quite enjoyable to watch the men leave humiliated and their woman satisfied." He straightened up and took Lois by the elbow and walked her up the stairs. She was very nervous now.

Dick and Babs looked at each other a bit shocked and listened very attentively to the conversation in the office upstairs. They had expected an interview. What they heard didn't fall into that category. Both were ready to jump into action but waited. Lois was not in danger yet. They would not blow their cover until absolutely necessary.

==============================M=========================

Lois had been confident when she argued with Clark about not having a superhero babysitter. She was flattered that he wanted to watch out for her but she needed to prove to herself and to him that she was very capable of handling herself in a tough situation. She had been studying the crowds and the traffic intently on her way to the club. She had even looked to the sky a couple of times. She would not have minded being watched over by the newest hero in Metropolis, but Booster was not a very low profile type of persona.

So far she had not seen anyone that seemed to be watching or following her. She had been looking at the sky when she had been bumped and almost knocked down by some young girl that hadn't been watching where she was going either. She had apologized and kept going. At least she had apologized. There seemed to be so many rude people in the city nowadays.

As Lois entered the doors to the "More the Merrier" she was greeted by Dr. Williams. He looked to be in his late forties. He seemed to be in fairly good shape but he didn't look spectacular and his eyes creeped her out. She found that she didn't want to look at them. For some reason she had the impression that this annoyed Dr. Williams.

He led her back into the club where she was assaulted with loud rhythmic music and the sight of many half naked girls and women dancing on several stages. There were couples and groups of three disappearing into back rooms and up stairwells into rooms on the second floor as well. When Dr. Williams reached the bottom of the stairwell he leaned over and spoke into her ear. His unwanted closeness was annoying. His lips actually touched her ear as he spoke to her and she felt her skin crawl.

"I'm so glad you decided to come alone. I must confess that I enjoy the company of an attractive woman so much more than the company of a woman and a man. Although, I must say that it is quite enjoyable to watch the men leave humiliated and their woman satisfied," he said.

He took her elbow and walked her up the stairs. It took all of her self control not to yank free and run away. She wished she knew where her shadows were. What if Clark had forgotten about sending someone? What if he had decided that she was right? That she didn't need him to look out for her?

Lois tried to calm herself. She needed this story. She needed to investigate and expose any corruption and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Dr. Williams was a slime ball. It was as if she could feel an almost suffocating evil in his presence.

They were now in his office. He directed her to a low couch. When she sat down he sat down next to her, his body touching hers.

Lois flinched and looked angrily into his eyes and found herself helpless. It was a combination of his gaze, his words, and his tone.

"Lois Lane, you are a beautiful woman. I expected to also meet your husband today. That would have been very amusing but like I told you coming up, I very glad that you decided to come alone. It was very brave of you and it will delay your husband's humiliation for a little while. And that is very thoughtful of you. Now normally I would convince you to have sex with me, either alone or in front of your husband. I have found that both are rewarding even though I have come to truly appreciate the look of helplessness on the man's face as he watches his wife or girlfriend being satisfied by another man." He gave an evil smirk wiped his nose with a handkerchief and continued along a different line of thought.

"I wonder that you have not investigated the increase in suicides that have begun to spring up around the city. It seems the dead body of a young woman shows up in the river and everyone points their finger at me. But nobody cares what happened to cause so many young men to end their lives. Nobody feels the need to avenge a man when he dies prematurely. Women always come first. Well they do for me as well." He chuckled at his dark humor and smiled wickedly.

Lois was aware of what was happening in a small way and knew that this man was a killer, but she could not get her body to respond to her commands. She flinched every time he touched her leg or hand but she could not swat him away or stand up to leave.

He continued his little speech, "No, unfortunately, I have someone that requires one hundred percent of my attention tonight. Perhaps another time. I'm sorry that I cannot service you tonight, but that doesn't mean that we can't humiliate you and your husband. You are going to leave now and I want you to go directly to the first man that you think about other than your husband, of course, and seduce him. In the morning you will realize what you have done and you will not remember our conversation. You will write an article that states there is no evidence connecting me to the murder of the young woman found in the river. If your husband has not left you then you will return with him so that he can watch you with me. Do you understand all that I have instructed?" Dr. Williams asked. His nose was in Lois's hair, his left hand was on her waist and his right gripped her closest knee.

Lois was completely gone now. "Yes. I understand. I must leave now."

Dr. Williams stood with her and walked her out of his office and down the stairs. He watched her retreating form as she disappeared into a waiting taxi and then he headed back upstairs to the back room of his office to enjoy the rest of his night at the expense of his guest.

========================M==========================

Downstairs

Dick and Barbara stared at each other. "Mind control!" they both said it simultaneously.

"Babs. You go after Lois. Make sure she's okay. I can resist mind control. I'll go take care of Dr. Williams."

Barbara nodded her head in agreement. Both stood up and walked outside holding hands. Once outside, they kissed lightly and then separated. Barbara followed Lois on her motorcycle. Dick disappeared into the back alley and Nightwing made his way up wall of the building to the second story then slipped inside like a shadow.

============================W===========================

Watchtower

Combat Room

Hal thought Maxima was very good. He thought he might be able to beat her if he went all out with his power ring but he wasn't sure. He figured he would play it safe.

His green sword crashed against hers for the hundredth time. And for the hundredth time, she disarmed him. It bothered him a bit that he had never learned how to sword fight. It also bothered him that he was not the strong hand to hand fighter that so many in the League were. He wasn't asking to be as good as Batman or Nightwing. Nobody could touch those two for skill, but why couldn't he be as good as Wildcat or Ollie or even Blue Beetle? Sure he could fight. He knew some basic self defense, a little boxing. But without his power ring he became basically helpless.

It bothered him a little bit, but not that much. All of the time that he would have to spend training was time he could be spending with a beautiful woman. Hal smiled to himself. Here he was training and spending time with a beautiful woman at the same time. He lost his smile when he looked at Maxima's face. She was not amused and actually looked frustrated.

"You are not even trying to fight, Hal Jordan. If you do not wish to have combat then we do not have to continue. The purpose of the combat room is to test your skills to the utmost and prepare for any enemy. You can use your full power and not fear doing damage. Only Superman need be careful in here." When she said Superman, there was a faraway, wistful look in her eyes.

Hal was a little bit irritated with her speech. She hadn't stopped asking him questions about Superman since they had entered the combat room an hour ago.  
Every time he heard her say Superman he saw himself battered and Superman dragging a happy Diana away.

He decided to go all out. Leaping to his feet he sent out four giant green hands. Each grasped one of Maxima's limbs and pinned her to the floor. Hal stood over her triumphantly. "There! How's that! You don't ever want to piss off a Green Lantern! Because once a Green Lantern busts out the four giant green hands, it's pretty much a done deal!"

Maxima struggled vainly for a moment. She marveled at Hal's will power. She was pretty much Wonder Woman's physical equal. She knew that Wonder Woman had defeated Hal Jordan in combat before so it should not have been a problem for her but here she was pinned and helpless and Hal Jordan was boasting and joking in victory.

"Now, I'm gonna let you up there, you pretty princess you, but don't go getting any ideas of revenge because then I'll have to whip out the four green hands again and we both know you don't want that." Hal had a grin from ear to ear.

Maxima scowled up at him but then she relaxed and smiled. She was pretty much Diana's equal when it came to strength and fighting skill but she also had telepathic powers that Diana did not have.

Hal smiled back at her and relaxed a bit. "You know. You have a very nice smile. You should smile more often. I know it sounds impossible but it makes you look even more beautif…Awww!"

Maxima blasted the distracted Hal with a wave of psychic energy. He staggered back and his four green hands disappeared. Maxima sprang to her feet and struck the nerve bundle in his throat bringing him to his knees'. She made sure she didn't hit him too hard. She wanted to win not cripple or kill him. She grasped his hand and removed his ring and smiled down at him triumphantly.

"Hal Jordan. I enjoyed sparring with you. It was amusing to see you naked twice today. I have yet to see Kal-El completely naked but I'm sure that I will soon. It is somewhat flattering that you hold back so much of your power when fighting a woman, but there is no need to do so in the future. I must say that as upsetting as it was to be at your mercy, I do appreciate that you did not take that opportunity to make unwanted advances. We will have to spar again in the near future. Here is your power r…" Maxima's face turned pale. Her eyes took on a tortured look. She gasped as if fighting for air. She closed her lovely green eyes as she struggled with some unseen pain. Then she fell to the floor.

Hal was still groggy from the sudden reversal Maxima had pulled on him. He started to get to his feet but sat back down a bit shakily. He saw that Maxima lay on the floor and that his ring was in her hand. He crawled to her side to see if she was alright.

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. She smiled warmly and her violet eyes sparkled wickedly. When she spoke her words sounded like wonderful music and Hal wanted to hear more.

"Hal Jordan. I have some questions for you about Superman. After you have answered my questions you may go to sleep. You will not have to wake up for a long time and you will have pleasant dreams."


	15. Chapter 15

The Birthday Present

Chapter 14

Waking Up In The Wrong Bed Is Generally Not A Good Thing

Metropolis

Lois sat in the back of her taxi fumbling in her purse. Finally she found her cell phone. She selected the most recent number from her, calls received, box and hit the call button.

The Metropolitan

Ollie had his things all packed. He generally traveled light and he had not planned on doing any patrolling this evening anyway. If he had truly been needed he could have teleported to the Watchtower for an outfit. He always carried a few weapons with him. It was a habit. He had decided to wait for a few more minutes. He was a little uneasy about meeting this reporter. He knew a story about Green Arrow wouldn't garner as much attention as the story of Superman had but it couldn't hurt either. That and the reporter that had the hots for Superman would be all his. He chuckled at the thought.

He was glad that he had found out Superman was married. It meant this Lois Lane lady was fair game. The thought brought a smile to his face.

A moment later the smile disappeared. He remembered seeing a ring on the pretty reporter's finger and she had spoken to someone when he had called her earlier. So it seemed she was married as well. That had never stopped him before. He only had one rule; never sleep with the woman of a friend. If the girl wasn't interested he would try to charm and convince but he would go no farther. Of course, he had never been turned down in the last several years until today. He'd been shot down by Dinah and then by the sexy reporter.

That meant that she was going to be a small challenge. That was okay. If she gave in it meant that she really needed the release. Her man wasn't taking good care of her and that she found him attractive. He hoped he would get the chance.

Bored, he stood up and then dropped to the floor and started doing pushups. Just as he passed fifty his cell phone rang. He jumped up and grabbed it. He smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hi, there. Gonna come see me after all?" he asked, throwing on his charm.

"No. I'm still here. I'll meet you down in the lobby and bring you up to my room. How's that sound?" Ollie suggested.

"Great, see you in ten minutes," Ollie hung up with a satisfied grin. She said she wanted to see him in his room. He pulled out a bottle of champagne and two glasses, set them on the table and made his way down to the lobby to wait for her.

Lois got paid the driver and got out of the taxi. The night was warm and there was very little wind. The Metropolitan was a beautiful forty story hotel. She walked into the lobby purposefully but a little stiffly. She felt a hand on her right arm and turned to see a tall blond man with a trim beard and moustache dressed in a white shirt and black slacks that he filled out nicely. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he greeted her and led her to the elevator.

As the doors closed and they made their way up to the penthouse, Oliver turned to tell her how lovely she looked but he was cut off with a question.

"You are Green Arrow?" Lois asked bluntly.

"Yes, Ma'am. I am." He answered. He figured if this reporter could keep Superman's secret then she could keep his as well. It was strange that she did not seem to recognize that he was Oliver Queen. Famous rich boy. He was about to continue with his compliment but she cut him off again; this time by grabbing his face and pulling him down into a deep kiss.

Ollie was taken aback. He had expected to have to work at it a little more than this. The woman he had met up on the roof of the Daily Planet seemed so much different from the one that was kissing him. She had gone from suspicious and inquisitive and sexy to aggressive and sexy.

He didn't dwell on the difference for very long. The woman wanted some attention he was more than willing to give it to her. He pulled her more tightly to him and plundered her willing mouth with his own while his hands became familiar with her curves. The elevator finally opened up onto his penthouse room. He lifted her up and carried her to the large bed. By the time they reached it they were only in their underwear. Those were soon discarded as well and moments later Ollie was thrusting vigorously and violently into the very pretty, very loud and very willing reporter from the Daily Planet.

Outside Metropolitan

"Nightwing, Steel, she just went into the Metropolitan. I could have sworn I saw her with Green Arrow. What do you want me to do?"

There was silence for a moment, "Go in and see if he's registered. If so then pay him a visit and explain what's going on. Maybe he'll help out. If she is with him then she should be safe until Supes gets back."

"Okay, be careful, Nightwing. I'm going inside." Barbara parked her motorcycle and walked in. She wasn't in costume like Dick was. Asking at the front desk it was confirmed that Ollie was indeed in the building and in the penthouse. The clerk behind the desk gave a knowing smile seeing the lovely redhead in front of him. It was not odd for Mr. Queen to have a lovely companion or two when he stayed with them.

He sent her on ahead to the penthouse.

===========M==========

The More the Merrier

Dr. Williams' large office was dark. Shadows hung everywhere. One shadow moved silently and gracefully along the walls. Two hands felt for a switch or trigger. He found a part of the wall that felt weaker than the rest. He attached a listening device from his gauntlets to the wall and listened.

He could hear Dr. Williams talking to someone. He adjusted his microphone a little and his voice came in loud and clear.

"Well, Miss Margo, it's just you and me now. What do you say we get rid of these clumsy clothes you have on? No, don't worry. You won't have to get up. I'll just cut them off. Have you ever done this tied up and on your stomach before? No? Well, you're in for a treat. The drug I gave you is going to really heighten your senses. Your pleasures are going to be really intense but then again so will any pain that you experience. I promise to try and get the pleasures over with as quickly as possible so that we can move on to the more unpleasant business of disposing of you."

Nightwing heard a few grunts and then, "My, that was hard to get off but you do look very nice. You must exercise quite a bit. Now I'm going to give you a little taste of why so many couples frequent my club. I'm just sorry that you will not have the chance to ever come back."

Nightwing had heard enough. He could not find the switch so he set explosive charges on the panel and ducked behind the desk. Three beeps and the panel exploded inward and Nightwing sailed in after it.

He found Dr. Williams half naked and half on the bed. His prisoner was completely naked, strapped face down and obviously drugged.

Nightwing delivered a vicious blow to the side of Dr. William's neck, knocking the man unconscious. He quickly secured his hands and feet and taped his mouth shut for good measure. He was certain that the explosives he had used had not been heard above the loud pulse pounding music going on outside in the club.

Removing the captive woman's bonds, he wrapped a sheet around her body and picked her up. She was slightly conscious. She looked at him and almost smiled but then her head lolled back against his shoulder. She muttered incoherently as he moved her away out of the room and back out through the window he had entered by.

==========C==========

California

Superman burst into the tunnel making sure to make lots of noise as he landed behind Henshaw. He was not in the mood to play games. He did not know and did not care what Henshaw was up too. He was just interested in saving the lives of the captives and disabling Henshaw in a much more permanent manner.

Henshaw spun instantly to attack. He extended his robotic arm and grasped Superman by the neck. He started to talk about his well laid trap and his murder of Superman but stopped when Superman ripped his robotic arm clean off of his body.

He gave a scream and threw himself at Superman and suddenly found himself a head without a body.

Superman turned the cybernetic head so that is was looking deeper into the tunnel, "Let me guess, You were going to fight me to a standstill while the captives watched and then after you'd softened me up Metallo would finish me with kryptonite poisoning. I thought that you were more intelligent than that."

"You will never defeat Metallo in a confined space like this!" Crenshaw's cybernetic head shrieked.

"I won't be able to defeat him?" Superman asked as he pointed Crenshaw's head to where J'onn was moving up the tunnel with Metallo over one shoulder and lead container under the other arm.

"Well, it might have been a good plan if I didn't have any friends, but you didn't think about that and you lost." Superman turned to J'onn. "Could you leave Metallo here with me and get the captives out of here? I'm going to put these two in a safe place. Hopefully they will not bother anyone for a very long time."

J'onn agreed and taking the lead container he lead all of the hostages back up into the clinic where they raced out into the arms of their loved ones and the protection of the police.

Superman bent down and yanked Metallo's lifeless head from its body and stood up with a robotic head in each hand. Metallo's was silent. Crenshaw's was making all kinds of threats and promises of death and pain. Superman ignored him and flew down the tunnel. He found that it went on for several miles but it was not long before heard water and stopped with a smile. Setting the two heads down he flew back up the tunnel and retrieved the robot bodies of his enemies and brought them back. When he located the underground lake he tossed the bodies into it. Then he picked the heads back up and found another tunnel that led into a vast cavern. Finding a ledge he placed both heads there facing each other.

"Here you two go. Your new home; I know that it's kinda dark but at least you'll have each other to keep company. We probably won't see each other again so this is really good bye." With that Superman turned and sped away back to the surface.

When he was once again above ground he contacted the Watchtower. "Hi, John. I know that John already informed you about the outcome. I just wanted to know how Lois is doing and if she's safe."

"She seems to be safe, Superman. Batgirl followed her into the Metropolitan where she saw her meet up with GA and Nightwing just rescued a government agent that Dr. Williams was holding captive and drugged in his club. It looks like the he was running a drug operation there as well and Nightwing said something about mind control," Steel responded.

"Okay, looks like we were all busy. Tell those two I said thanks. I'm gonna head up to the Watchtower for a bit before I go back home and thank you, John," Superman said before he clicked off.

Superman and J'onn moved to speak to the police and afterwards the press.

=========W=========

Maxima and Hal walked out of the combat room together. They headed back for Hal's room. Hal walked silently. Maxima was humming. When they reached Hal's room they both stopped and Maxima kissed him teasingly on the mouth. Hal stood stock still.

Maxima laughed as she pulled away. "Do not worry, Hal Jordan. I will not turn you into a pig again. Go and sleep. You will dream of the woman you want for several days and you will wake up to a different world."

She pushed him into his room in a playful manner. Hal did not resist and when the back of his legs hit the bed he fell back already asleep and with a smile on his face.

Maxima walked back to her room humming. She knew Superman's civilian name, where he lived, worked and who his wife was. This was going to be fun and very, very easy. The rest of the league she would take care of at her leisure. She went into her bathroom and showered while she relaxed in the warm water her violet eyes relaxed and closed. Moments later they opened again. There was a very confused look in her very pretty green eyes.

==========M==========

Metropolitan

Barbara entered Ollie's penthouse warily and gasped when she heard and then saw the two making violent love on the large bed. She turned her head as quickly as she could but not before she noticed that both were participating extremely vigorously. A part of her remembered the directive that Dr. Williams had given her and knew she was under mind control. But another part of her told her that Lois would not be having sex with another superhero. And Ollie would never dare seduce and sleep with Superman's wife. It didn't make any sense to her. Were these two having an affair already so she came straight to see him? She knew there was no physical danger to Lois and so she left conflicted and confused. She decided to keep quiet for the time being, but somebody needed to have a talk with Ollie.

"Is Lois safe, Babs?" Nightwing's voice came over the private com link.

"Um, yes. She is safe and she is with Oliver," she responded.

"Okay meet me outside of Metropolis General. I'll let Steel know that Lois is alright. If you would, contact the police and inform them of the bound Dr. Williams back at the club. I'm sure they'll find plenty of evidence of his criminal activities and this agent I have with me I'm sure will be happy to testify against him," Nightwing replied.

Nightwing left agent Margo at the hospital. The doctors saw a sandy blond headed man in baggy clothes drop off an attractive woman and yell for a doctor. When they reached his side he said something about the woman being drugged. When they again turned to him for more information he had disappeared.

=========A==========

Superman left his report up on the Watchtower said goodbye to J'onn and Steel then teleported back home. It was already ten and Lois was not yet home. He chuckled to himself. Ollie was probably charming her socks off with the interview. He remembered his interview with Lois. She had been the one doing the flirting and he had gobbled it up. He already had a crush on her at work and to have her crushing back on him was flattering. He did not stop to consider how she ignored him as Clark in those days. He was young and having fun.

He knew that Lois was safe and that she would be in late. So readied himself for bed and lay down. As he lay between wakefulness and sleep he remembered the amazing kiss that Maxima had given him and he remembered holding Diana and smelling her face and neck and hair. He wondered how she would spend the next couple of days at home with her family and he fell asleep with the memory of her lovely aroma.

==========M=========

Metropolitan 7 a.m.

Ollie slept with a smile on his face. Last night had been fabulous. The reporter was very athletic and very aggressive and very loud. He had gone until he couldn't go anymore and she had still wanted more. He had to service her with his hands while he recuperated and then picked up where they had left off. It seemed she was used to having lots of sex and her stamina was amazing. So she was the great Lois Lane, the reporter that had landed the Superman story and who was always flirting with him. He wondered if Big Blue had ever taken the firecracker to bed. He remembered how so many of the League members had wondered when Supes and Diana would finally get a room. Then they had found out that he was already married. To a civilian. It seemed he had ended up marrying a reporter for the Daily…Oliver shot up in bed awake and in a cold sweat.

Lois slept soundly but then slowly became restless. Her body ached but in a good way. Like whenever she and Clark made love for hours. She was always exhausted. She loved falling asleep in his arms. She would never admit to anyone that she loved the feeling of security she had when he held her like that. It would make her look weak. And she was anything but weak. She knew that he had let go last night with her. She wondered what had happened to him that he had been able to make love to her with such abandon. She rolled over in the bed to feel him next to her. He was there but he and the bed suddenly felt wrong. She remembered her interview with the Green Arrow and suddenly the previous night came back vividly to her and she shot up with a panicked, "NOOOO!"


	16. Chapter 16

The Birthday Present

Chapter 15

I Know You, I Made Out With You Once Upon A Dream

Watchtower

Last Night

Hal's Room

A contented smile touched Hal's face. He sat on his apartment balcony in Coast City staring off over the ocean. He marveled at how vast the ocean was and how the sky and the water seemed to merge into one in the far distance. It was breathtaking art. Turning to his right he gazed happily at the lovely woman next to him. To him, she made the ocean and sky pale in beauty. He had never expected for the two of them to be together and he made a silent promise to himself that he would never cause her grief.

He knew that giving her his heart was not going to be difficult. His problem was making sure he didn't give any of his heart to anyone else. He had to focus on making sure he kept his body exclusively hers as well. He remembered on many occasions vowing never to limit himself to one woman. The thought, the very idea had been painful, but being with her, watching her, having spent one glorious night with her, he knew that he could and would walk away from his adventurous days and never look back and never regret his decision.

She turned towards him and smiled warmly. He loved to see her smile. He had not seen her smile like that in a couple of years. It thrilled him that he was partly responsible for the smile. He knew that he would work the rest of his mortal life to keep that smile on her face.

They looked at each other for a few more minutes. There was definitely a strong physical attraction between them. The sexual desire and glow was plain enough on both of their happy faces. But there was more. There was a relaxed comfort and trust in their posture and expressions as well. They were both at ease. Conversation came easy and so did silence. There was no awkwardness. There was familiarity between the two that spoke of more than sex but of a deeper friendship and bond, a bond that had existed long before they had ever been intimate with each other.

For a moment the fate of another beautiful teammate flitted before his eyes. She was without equal in beauty and he had just recently discovered that she was in love with him. He felt bad but he knew that as bad as he had wanted to fall in love with her and show her how great being loved by a man and becoming woman could be, that it probably wouldn't work in the long run and he was now going to give up his days of adventurous love. He wasn't sure how he would break the news to her. It would be tricky. She was head over heels for him, not that he blamed her, and he had no idea how she would react. He wanted to let her down easy and hoped that they would remain friends. But there was no telling how an Amazon, gifted by the gods, would react to being turned down by the man she loved.

His companion stood from her chair and came and sat in his lap. She was naked except for one of his tee shirts. Her lovely, bare bottom was on his naked lap. Her knees were together and both of her long lovely legs dangled over his left side. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. Her blue eyes sparkled with life, mischief, desire and happiness.

As he wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her closer to taste her wonderful mouth, all thoughts of Diana fled his mind.

Dinah's Room

Dinah woke from her sleep. She was alone. She vowed to herself that she would not listen to any of Ollie's excuses or apologies. She had heard enough of them and had realized long ago that he had no intention of changing his ways. He was a skilled lover but he could be selfish and he tended to be more so when he was being unfaithful. He definitely did not worry much about her heart or about who saw him with another woman. He was proud of the fact that he bedded her and any other woman that grabbed his fancy.

She promised herself that he would never bed her again.

Looking at her clock she saw that it was just past one in the morning. She did not feel sleepy so decided to get up. Dressing in her black outfit, tall black boots and fishnet stockings she made her way to the monitoring station.

She found Steel there, wide awake and alert as usual.

"Hello, Miss Canary. Dying to jump into a mission, are we?" He greeted her with a smile. He, like most of the League, was aware that she had just ended her relationship with Ollie and tried to be friendly without prying.

"Hi, John. No, not really. Just couldn't sleep. And you can call me Dinah, John. My name isn't a secret up here," she replied. "Has anything interesting happened since I've been in my quarters?"

Steel smiled, "Anything happen? No. Only an attack from Metallo and Cyborg Superman that J'onn and Superman stopped. Nightwing and Batgirl took down some drug lord in Metropolis that was running some sort of sex operation. He had some government agent kidnapped and had killed one previously. Oh, and Maxima and Hal just finished a seriously brutal sparring exercise. Other than that nothing really happened. Been very boring," he grinned and winked.

Dinah smiled back, "I see. Yes, it does sound boring. Are Hal and Maxima still up?"

"They might be. I think they both went on to their quarter's just moments ago but they're probably not sleeping yet," Steel assured her.

Dinah excused herself and headed down to Hal's room. She hoped he was still awake. She felt like just sitting down and talking to him for a while. She didn't think that he was with another woman at the moment, not if John had just seen him go into his quarter's.

Reaching his room she rapped on the metallic alloy that served as a door. There was no response. She knocked again, nothing. Then she heard a groan. It was definitely Hal's voice. She quickly pulled out the universal key that only she as a leader and a select few others had, she slid it into the control panel and overrode Hal's personal code. The door slid open and she entered.

She found him fully clothed and sound asleep on the bed. But his sleep was not peaceful. The sheets were everywhere. His face had a big smile plastered on it but he was sweating and gripping the sheets. She sat down on the side of the bed carefully and extended a hand to touch his forehead gently.

"This is too good to be true. I must be dreaming," Hal mumbled with his eyes still closed. He said this just as Dinah's hand made contact with his forehead and just as he half tossed, half turned himself towards her. His leg touched the small of her back.

Hal's words made Dinah hesitate. She was sure he was just having an erotic dream and she felt embarrassed for entering his room and so she began to stand up to leave.

Hal's eyes flew open at the double physical contact on his leg and forehead and he sat up like a bolt of lightning. He wasn't sure if he was awake or not. The vision from his dream was right there. He assumed it was for real but his mind wasn't yet quite clear.

"So I wasn't dreaming!" Hal grabbed Dinah by the wrist, pulled her down onto the bed next to him and gave her a deep and passionate kiss.

Dinah went stiff as a board in shock for a moment. She almost broke away to fight but then she melted into his embrace and returned the kiss with equal passion.

The seconds ticked by as they sat there holding and kissing each other, before Hal finally broke the kiss. He was awake now. He was aware that he was in his room and that his night and morning with Dinah had been a dream but that right now she was actually in his arms and returning his passion and desire. He was ashamed and excited; ashamed that he was taking advantage of his hurting friend and excited that she seemed to feel just as passionately about him.

Hal pulled back quickly, dropping his hands and searching her face for a clue as to her feelings. He saw desire and confusion and it was enough for him. "I'm sorry, Dinah. I had no right to do that. You must think I'm scum right now."

Dinah was searching his face as well and she was still trying to catch her breath from his debilitating kiss. She felt weak and she had butterflies in her stomach. "W..w..well, y..y..you don't have to a..a..apologize for dreaming about me and k..k..kissing me. That was very nice," she stammered.

"Dinah, I want to kiss you again, but I know you're going through a lot right now with Ollie. I don't want to catch you on the rebound. There's also my reputation. To be perfectly honest, I'm no better than Ollie when it comes to women and you don't need another man like me. That, and I have to tell Diana somehow that we just won't work. I don't know how she'll take it. I know she's very compassionate and all but she can be fierce as well. I'm not sure how to go about it. I want to let her down easy. I have to be sensitive to her feelings," Hal was more thinking out loud now.

Dinah stared at him for a moment. She realized that he was trying to be a gentleman and that what he was saying was true. She did not want another Ollie and this was very soon after her break up but then it had been quite a while since she had actually been intimate with Ollie so being held and kissed so tenderly and passionately had felt nice. When Hal began talking about Diana, she couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing. She had heard from others about Hal's comments about Diana and them being in love with each other and figured that he was just being funny, but apparently he truly believed it to be true or Circe had done more than just turn him into a little pink pig. She laughed more at the thought. For a moment she thought that the mission would have been perfect for Ollie. The thought made her stop laughing but she continued to smile as she gazed at Hal.

She touched his arm. "Thank you, Hal. You're being quite the gentleman. I have to tell you that I'm flattered that you were dreaming about me. One of these days you'll have to tell me what you dreamed in detail. And you're right it's too soon for me to get into another relationship and I absolutely do not want another Ollie, but sometimes a woman just needs to be with a man to feel like a woman and I can't think of a man that would be more considerate of my feelings than my friend, Hal Jordan." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "That was quite a kiss, Hal. I really liked it and I would love for you to kiss me like that again."

"Now it was Hal's turn to stammer, "U..u..um, y..y..yes, y..y..you're r..r..right. I..I..I need to feel you like a woman and a kiss should always be considerate and twice. I'll definitely kiss you twice again soon." He couldn't think straight. He felt as if his body was floating and he was watching himself and Dinah sitting on the bed from above.

Dinah leaned in close to him, her lips just centimeters from his. "How soon before you kiss me again, Hal? All I need is a little kiss from you and then I think I will be able to go back to sleep."

Hal sighed, the stimulation and temptation were too much for him. He was a man of great will power, but women were his kryptonite and Dinah was the most powerful kryptonite he had ever come across. He told himself that he couldn't do it. That he would only hurt her. But she was so close, so warm, so willing. She was requesting another kiss and she looked so happy.

Hal pulled her in again as his lips found hers and she opened willingly. This kiss was longer. It was desired by both. They hungrily explored each other's mouth. Their lips and tongues danced sensuously and they were both lost in their moment. Hal began to pepper Dinah's face and neck with light kisses.

Dinah threw her head back, surrendering her soft neck to Hal's attentions. She reached up with her left hand and removed her blond wig, letting her natural dark thick raven locks cascade down around her shoulders while Hal continued his gentle assault. She sighed happily and relaxed in his arms.

Slowly Hal came back to her mouth. "I've always loved your black hair, you could always ditch the blond wig put on a dark mask and still be known as the Black Canary. It would actually make more sense. Right now you could call yourself the Blonde Canary."

"Stop talking nonsense and keep kissing me. I need and want a lot more kissing from you before I go back to my room.

"Talk less. Kiss more. Got it."

It was another ten minutes before they stopped. Hal walked her to the door and she put her wig back on. Both of their faces were glowing. Before Hal opened the door Dinah pulled his face down for another kiss. She whispered good-bye and was gone.

Maxima's Room

Maxima walked alone through her palace garden. It was a lush, beautiful and practical garden. All of the fruits found in it were edible and she could easily pick them if she wanted. There were also several running pools with cool refreshing water. It was the cleanest water in all of Almerac.

The garden was the size of a small town and walled in on all four sides. She had weapons hidden everywhere and guards close by should an unwanted suitor or an enemy have the audacity to attack her while there.

As spoiled as she had always been she still appreciated the peace and quiet and beauty of her garden. She had finally told her gardeners how much she loved their hard work. They had blushed deeply at the unexpected praise and tripped over one another to serve her.

She had been pleasantly surprised at their reaction and devotion. She had always assumed that it was the job of her people to serve her and her right to rule them as she saw fit. Kal-El had changed all of that. She had finally seen that his gentleness was not weakness. He was perhaps the most powerful and beautiful being she had ever encountered yet he never took or demanded or threw his weight around. He asked, he offered and he was kind.

She had never really cared about whether or not he was kind. The fact that he was Kryptonian, powerful, beautiful and compatible with her had been enough. She wanted him with every fiber of her being and had made pursuing him her number one priority. He had come up with excuse after excuse but had never been nasty to her. She knew that she would eventually wear him down.

Sometimes she had wondered if he thought her ugly. She knew that she was attractive. She found that the males of most of the species she had encountered either stared at her longingly or flat out tried to seduce or capture her for their own.

The days of chasing Kal-El and running from or fending off unwanted suitors were quickly coming to a close. Kal-El spent more and more time with her. His gentle spirit had started to rub off on her. She found herself asking and smiling at her subjects more and more and discovered, that like her gardeners, they fell over each other to serve and please her every wish.

Maxima sat at the edge of one of her many pools. She dipped one pretty foot into the cool refreshing water and swirled it happily. Kal-El sat next to her. He held her hand gently in his large gentle one. Their conversation had centered around their blossoming romance.

Kal-El had just told her that he loved her. She felt her throat constrict and her stomach knot up, it was a dream come true. She had never expected to hear those words from him. She would have been satisfied if he had just wished to bed her, but here he sat, holding her hand and pulling her close whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

Maxima felt the knots disappear as she melted to the music of his words of love. She turned to face him and speak, but found that she had no voice. It didn't matter. Kal-El was done speaking. He captured her lips in a gentle, inquisitive kiss that deepened as she yielded and returned the kiss.

Maxima closed her eyes. She was floating. She hoped the kiss would last forever. She opened her eyes again. She wanted to look at Kal-El as he made love to her. He was looking back at her adoringly but suddenly he began to fade, her garden began to fade as well.

Maxima wanted to scream but she couldn't make any noise. She found that her wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy chains that were anchored to a cold, damp, stone floor. The walls were also stone and were damp as well. It was very dark except for the doorway. She saw a Doppler of herself standing there. The other Maxima seemed to be gloating.

"You will have him soon enough, Princess. You are going to help me scar the Princess for life, but to make sure you do as told I am going to run the show for a while. Soon you will no longer be a threat and your body and mind will be entirely mine." The other Maxima began to laugh. It was a musical laugh, mesmerizing and chilling.

Maxima saw her violet eyes and heard the voice and suddenly realized that she was at the mercy of the witch Circe.

Maxima panicked, "You will never hurt my friends, Witch! Face me and see what a warrior princess of Almerac can do, Coward!"

Circe just laughed more, "You are already defeated, warrior princess. And you are right. I will not hurt your friends. You are going to do that for me. You will do everything that I command. You are going to wake up now and you will remember nothing that has transpired here save for your time with the Kryptonian."

Circe stepped out of the damp cell that was Maxima's prison and slammed the door.

Maxima woke up staring at the ceiling. She was sweating, confused and felt the need to speak with J'onn.

======T======

Themyscira

Diana sat on the beach looking out at the ocean. She loved the sand and the water. She loved swimming just as much as she loved exploring the forests of her home. Of the two, the waters had always been the most mysterious and least dangerous to her and Donna. Their mother had always fretted when they were in the woods and relaxed when they were on the beach.

Diana was happy. She sat in the warm sand, looking out over the beautiful vast ocean with her best friend.

She and Kal had been sitting in the sand for hours just taking in the breathtaking beauty that was her home and the lovely warm waters that surrounded Themyscira. They would talk for a while. Share memories, ask questions, share warm smiles and then they would just be silent. After what seemed like a beautiful eternity of sitting close to one another they decided to go for a swim.

As they stood, their bodies touched and suddenly they found themselves holding each other and kissing fiercely. Diana knew that there was something wrong with about what she was doing but she didn't know what it was. She stopped trying to figure out why she felt uneasy after a moment and just lost herself in the sensation of being held and kissed by Kal. His kiss and caress were demanding yet gentle and sweet. She was glad that they had not run from each other on that first date. That they had continued to grow as friends and eventually fell in love. The physical attraction had always been there for both of them but they had taken it slow, wanting to learn about each other. They found that there were so many differences and yet so many similarities.

They hadn't quite reached the water and from the way that Kal was kissing her, Diana knew that they weren't going to reach it anytime soon. She had secretly wanted to make love to Kal on this beach for a long time. It seemed tonight would be the night. Diana suddenly realized that this would be her first time. It seemed odd. They had been together for so long. She couldn't believe they had not made love before.

"Diana. I need your help."

Diana sat bolt upright in her bedroom. The sunlight was pouring in bathing her in its morning warmth. It always reminded her of Kal and always brought a smile to her face.

This morning she did not smile. She was not with Kal. Kal was married. She had been dreaming. And she had heard Lois ask her for help.

======M======

Clark and Lois' Apartment

Clark always enjoyed training and sparring with Diana, more so than with Bruce. Diana often took him to an isolated island that was part of the chain of islands within the magical realm that was Themyscira and protected by the gods. The fact that they had their own island excited him. With Diana he didn't have to wear a blue kryptonite ring. He could employ most of his powers without holding back too much and she was much more beautiful than Bruce. The thought made him burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, Kal?" Diana was looking at him curiously.

Clark thought She looked so lovely when she looked curious. Clark frowned, the truth was that she looked lovely no matter what kind of look she was making or giving. This thought made him smile for a different reason. He decided that he would test a few of her different looks. "I was just thinking that you are a much prettier sparring partner than Bruce is."

"Oh." Diana suddenly looked self conscious and a little embarrassed but there was a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Yep. She looked lovely when she was flattered, self conscious and embarrassed.

Both held non magical Themysciran blades. "Attack." Diana ordered moved fluidly into her fighting stance.

Yes. She was definitely lovely when she was serious and bossy.

Clark moved with all the skill that Diana and Bruce and taught him and with more speed than he ever used against Diana. He disarmed her and flipped her neatly over his hip, dropping her to the sand with his blade pointing at her neck. "And the first round goes to me!" Clark gloated a little more than necessary.

Diana stared up at him in shock for a moment. It was clear she had no idea where that had come from. But then she shoved the sword tip away and sat up eyes blazing. Her hair was in her face.

No doubt about it. Shocked, angry and disheveled she still managed to look impossibly beautiful.

Diana stood up with a determined look. She retrieved her blade and took her stance. "Again!"

There she went with the pretty bossy look again. But this time she added a, "Come on and try that again," look. She still glowed.

Okay, it was time to go for a new look. Clark attacked again. This time much slower and not nearly as skillfully. He found his blade knocked from his hand, his feet knocked out from under him, himself staring up at the wonderfully warm yellow sun, Diana's lovely left knee in his solar plexus, her blade at his neck and a, "you don't want to mess with me," look on her face.

Definitely lovely when she had that look as well. So, he had tested the embarrassed, self conscious, serious, bossy, shocked, angry, disheveled, gloating, victorious, you don't want to mess with me looks. There were still so many more he wanted to test but right now, staring up at her he decided that he wanted to see her willingly surrendering look.

Sitting up suddenly, he shoved the sword away. His movement caused her left knee to slide off of his torso so that she was effectively straddling him. As he sat up he wrapped his left arm around her strong, lovely, slender waist and buried his right hand in her thick raven locks. He pulled her tightly to himself and captured her impossibly, beautiful lips with his own in a passionate and demanding kiss.

Diana's body went stiff at the sudden and completely unexpected reversal but she had no defense against his passion and she quickly melted and molded herself to Kal as she surrendered herself to his amorous assault. The seconds turned into minutes as the two rolled and wrestled sensuously in the warm sand.

When they broke the kiss Diana's chest was heaving. Both stared at each other glassy eyed.

In the back of his mind Clark noticed that Diana had no contenders when it came to the, "I surrender" and "I want you now" and the "why did you stop kissing me" looks. But the rest of him didn't want to catalogue her looks anymore. He just wanted to make love to her. He could tell from her eyes that she wanted the same thing from him yesterday.

He started to pull her to himself but she seemed to be fading away. He called out for her to stop but she was no longer there. He suddenly felt wrong about everything. Just like Diana had faded, the ocean and island began to fade. He couldn't seem to remember ever having a romance with Diana. There was a very persistent and annoying sound that seemed to be getting louder.

"No, Clark! It wasn't me!"

Clark sat up in bed to the sound of his alarm clock going off. He could hear Lois's voice loud and clear and his dream about Diana was already forgotten lost in the labyrinth of his subconscious.

It was six thirty in the morning and Lois was not in bed next to him. That coupled with her voice put him into a mild panic.

As he got up he realized that he had slept all night. Sleep was not something he really needed. He could sleep but he had found that as he grew older he needed less and less of it. The only times he ever really slept anymore was after exposure to kryptonite of any variety and contact with powerful magic or battling beings as powerful or more so than himself. He wondered if being on Themyscira had tired him but he had been there before and not felt this way. He figured it must have been Circe. He really had not done anything exhausting.

He changed quickly and prepared to look for Lois.

Just before he left the apartment his communicator beeped.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Hi, Supes. Babs has some unpleasant news for you. Could you meet with us? We're just a couple of blocks from your apartment." Nightwing asked.

20


	17. Chapter 17

The Birthday Present

Chapter 16

Ever Pooped Your Pants?

======W======

Watchtower

Maxima got up, dressed and made her way to the monitoring station. Mr. Terrific was there, having relieved Steel an hour earlier.

"Good morning, Mr. Excited," Maxima greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Good morning. Princess Maxima. And It's _Mr. Terrific_, not Mr. Excited."

"Oh, I apologize." Maxima looked a little disoriented.

"That's okay, Princess. I get called all kinds of things! Is there anything I can help you with or do I get the pleasure of your company for free?" Michael asked.

Maxima eyed him suspiciously. "I hope you are not making advances on me, Mr. Amazing. I belong to Superman alone and I do not think he would take it kindly if he found out that you tried to seduce the woman that he kissed yesterday."

Michael's eyes nearly popped out through his mask. He unconsciously took a couple of steps back and held up his hands. "No, Princess. It was not meant to sound like that at all, I assure you. I was just making conversation and wondered why I had the pleasure of your visit. Oh, and its Mr. Terrific," he explained quickly. He had no interest in angering Maxima.

Maxima smiled sweetly. "I know. I was just being hilarious. It was funny to see you react in such a manner, Mr. Fabulous. Does everyone become so frightened when they think that Kal-El is angry with them?" Maxima actually giggled at the memory of Michael's discomfiture.

Michael smiled weakly. "Oh, I see. Yes, that was quite funny. Haha." It was his turn to eye Maxima suspiciously. He wasn't sure what was going on. He had never seen Maxima in such a mood. He found that hearing the fierce, warrior princess giggle had been a bit disturbing and her sudden bout of humor had given him a stomach ache.

"I actually came here to inquire as to whether J'onn is on the station at the moment. I need to speak to him urgently on a private matter and hoped that you could direct me to him. I am sorry for scaring you as I did, Mr. Surprising. I do not usually stoop to such frivolities as silly earth jokes, but I thought that I would give being hilarious a try. It was quite easy and, of course, it is only natural that I would be good at it. There is no skill I have attempted that I have not mastered. I suppose it has to do with my mental and physiological make up. I am glad that I was so successful in my first attempt. I believe that I need to become more open with the rest of the League. It seems that only a few other than Superman are comfortable around me. Green Arrow, Hal Jordan, the Flash and Plastic Man seem to have no trouble conversing with me, but that is just a handful. I hope the others will open up soon. I'll just have to shatter the ice with them as I did with you." Maxima explained.

Michael sighed. It seemed it would be a waste of time correcting her. The princess seemed to still be waking up. He wondered what was going on between her and Supes and if that had to do with new found bubbly personality. Almost everyone that had been present at the palace on Themyscira had told their version of the super-powered kiss that Superman and Princess Maxima had shared. He was sure that Superman was married and he knew that Superman was most definitely not a player. It just didn't make any sense to him. Pushing the questions from his mind, he smiled and said, "J'onn is actually in his quarters right now. He is three levels below us on the far side of the station. Would you like me to contact him for you?"

"That will not be necessary, Mr. Spectacular. I will see him unannounced and in private. Thank you for your help." Maxima smiled happily at him, spun on her heels and marched out of the monitoring station and off to see J'onn.

======M======

Metropolis

Dick and Barbara sat together on a park bench a couple of blocks from Clark and Lois's apartment. Both were very nervous. The news was not really bad. It was horrible. Both blamed themselves since they had volunteered to babysit Lois for Superman and make sure that no harm came to her while under their watch.

Dick had no idea how Superman would react. He knew that it would be bad no matter what. He couldn't imagine how he would react if something similar had happened to Babs. One thing he knew was that friend or not, Ollie would be in a lot of pain if he were in Clark's shoes. At the same time he figured that maybe he himself should be in a lot of pain for what happened to Lois. He had accepted the mission and he had told Babs to not worry when she had seen Lois with Ollie in the hotel lobby. He knew that Ollie or Roy with any woman, married or not, was cause for concern. He shouldn't have assumed that Ollie would keep his hands off of Lois because she was Superman's wife. At the same time, he had never considered Ollie to be an idiot, but that was the word that kept popping into his mind, with the word, 'galactic' in front of it. Why would he want to sleep with Superman's wife? Did he want to see if the big guy was capable of becoming a super villain? Did he have no interest in becoming old? That had to be it. He wanted to die young. Well, he wasn't young, but he was still in his prime physically. At least that's what he told everybody, especially the ladies. Dick just shook his head again. This was not going to go well, no matter how it was presented. He couldn't think of any way of telling Supes what had happened without him blurring away to wring Ollie's neck. He went over a few different approaches in his head,

"Morning, Big Guy! Would you like to grab a bagel? Great! Oh, by the way. You know how Ollie is always sleeping with different ladies? Yeah, well last night he sorta slept with Lois."

Maybe…

"Hi, Big Blue! You must feel really good with that bright, hot sun burning down like that. Hey, you know how GA porks a new girl every chance he gets?" No, he couldn't say it like that. Tact. He had to be tactful.

"Hi, Clark! Hey, you remind me a lot of Superman! Haha! Just kidding! No. Really, you do look a lot like him. But we all know that's impossible! I mean, whoever saw Superman wearing glasses? Snort, hahaha! Gotcha, didn't I? Woooo weeee! Heh heh." Wiping the tears from his eyes, "Well I have to tell you that it's a good thing that you're actually Superman. Why, you ask? Well, you see Lois went to visit Ollie last night. She was mind controlled to have sex with some guy other than her husband, that's you, so naturally when she met with Ollie she spent the night with him. I'm sure they're done having sex by now and are both fast asleep. This is good. Cuz it means she still doesn't realize what happened so if you're fast enough you could get to Ollie's hotel suite, yank him out of the bed and stuff him in a closet or drop him in the river or something real quick and then snuggle in with Lois and when she wakes up she'll never know that it wasn't you with her last night!"

No. that was too insensitive as well. Maybe he would just leave out the jokes and tell it to him straight.

Barbara sat dejectedly next to Dick. She had finally found the courage to tell Dick what she had seen going on between Ollie and Lois. Dick knew that Lois was under mind control and both knew that Ollie was not. Technically, Lois was in no physical danger. She was not in the company of a villain. She was in the company of a member of the Justice League. She wished that she'd been faster. That she would have had the courage to stop Ollie when she saw them in the room although it was already too late at that point. All of the possible scenarios where she could have kept Lois from falling into Ollie's hands kept playing through her head, but she couldn't turn back time and so she waited terrified of what would happen because of her error in judgment.

"So, what's the bad news?"

Dick and Barbara both jumped, startled, and looked up to see Clark standing before them.

Dick took a deep breath and stood up. Barbara stood up with him. "Okay. Here's what happened. We captured the bad guy. Freed a federal agent he was about to take advantage of and kill but we failed with Lois. She was mind controlled. She went to see Ollie. Unfortunately, her mind control had to do with having sex with a man other than her husband…"

Clark's face drained of all color and for a moment he felt sick to his stomach. The nausea didn't completely go away but his face suddenly flushed red as rage began to overpower the sick and helpless feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. In a blur of motion he disappeared into the air. In the same breath he was floating outside the windows of Ollie's suite.

======O======

Ollie's suite

Clark trembled with rage at the sight of Ollie and Lois tangled intimately in the large bed. Every fiber of his being wanted to wring Ollie's neck, to strike with all of his unbridled power at the one who had dared to touch his wife, but he just floated there staring into the suite at the unbelievable spectacle.

He floated there for the next twenty minutes, staring, unbelieving at the truth before him. His fists clenched and unclenched as the two continued in the contented slumber of satisfied lovers.

At seven am, both began to stir. At first each had a smile on his and her face then both sat up almost simultaneously. Ollie had the look of someone who suddenly found himself floating in a lake of lava on a sinking boat. Lois' face also had a desperate look about it. Both looked pasty white. It did not help that when they sat up, they found themselves face to face with the man of steel floating outside of the window.

Both sprang up from the bed, grasping desperately for anything to cover themselves.

Lois was sobbing, "No, Clark! Please! Don't look at me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

Ollie was mumbling, "I didn't realize! I didn't realize!"

Clark melted the window that separated him from the two and entered the suite.

Lois had finally wrapped herself in a sheet and collapsed on the floor, sobbing in disbelief. She was rocking herself as she clutched the sheet to her body and whispered over and over, "It can't be true. It wasn't me."

Ollie had his briefs in his hands and was backing away with his hands up in surrender. "Big Blue. I swear, I didn't realize. I promise. I would never…"

Clark blurred to him, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the wall. His eyes burned red. "You slept with my wife! You pathetic excuse for a man!" Clark's whole body trembled with barely contained rage. "You cheat on Dinah! You sleep with any woman you want and you flaunt it in her face. Now you take advantage of my mind controlled wife! Were you going to flaunt that in our faces as well? Were you going to tell everyone that you take good care of Superman's wife? Was that your plan? Or were you just going to throw that in Dinah's face for finally throwing you out? 

"Clark! You gotta believe me! I didn't realize that she was your wife! I would never do anything to mess with you like that! You know me! We're friends!" Ollie pleaded desperately. The look Clark was giving him chilled his blood. He had never seen him in this state.

Clark wanted to squeeze his fingers tighter around Ollie's throat. He wanted to let his heat vision go. He wanted to strike Ollie with all of his strength. His hand twitched, his eyes smoldered with heat and his free hand balled into a fist. All of his senses were shut off. He could hear nothing, not Lois sobbing, not even Ollie apologizing. All he could hear was his own heart beating and a quiet voice telling him to let go and finish the man who had taken advantage of his wife and who had called himself a friend.

======T======

Themyscira

It was a quiet and peaceful morning on the beautiful island given to the immortal Amazons. Queen Hippolyta, Diana and Donna sat on the balcony of their mother's room. Diana had just told the other two that she needed to leave.

"You must leave? You have stayed less than a day." Queen Hippolyta and Donna looked at Diana perplexed.

"What has happened, daughter?" the queen asked.

"I do not know for certain as of yet, mother. But I know that something is wrong. Superman's wife asked for my help in a dream. I do not know if this is something that has happened or will happen but I know that I must help if I can," Diana answered. It was obvious to the queen and to Donna that she was troubled by what she had seen or heard.

"You dreamed of Superman again?" Donna asked.

Diana blushed. "Yes. No. It is complicated. It was his wife, Lois, that asked for help in the dream. Something is wrong with her or with him. I do not know. But I must go. I will return as soon as possible. I promise. Do not be angry or offended, Mother," Diana said as she stared at her mother hopefully.

Queen Hippolyta laughed, "Go, Daughter. Help your friends and return when you can. Be strong and be blessed."

Diana smiled, "Thank you, Mother. I will return soon. If Lois or Superman is in danger or in need of help, then I must do what I can to help them."

The three walked down to the throne room of the palace. Diana embraced her sister and mother then entered the teleporter and stepped out into the embassy in Washington. Immediately she activated her communicator. She had it on an open channel so that the rest of the League members would hear and respond if they had any information. "Kal? Where are you?"

There was no answer. Diana tried again. Again there was no response. Then Nightwing's voice came over the link. "You'll find him at the Metropolitan. You need to hurry and get there before he does something that he'll regret the rest of his life. Don't bother going in through the lobby, just head to the top suite. I'm sure you'll see him there with Ollie and Lois."

Diana was very confused and concerned. Why would Nightwing say, "before he does something he would regret for the rest of his life. Diana stepped to the roof of the embassy and rose quickly into the air. As she sped towards Metropolis the very air around her warped as the gift of Hermes wrapped around her and slowly took the shape of her invisible jet. Diana sped on and arrived in under a minute over the Metropolitan.

Diana dropped down into the suite and took the scene in at a glance. She saw the obvious reason for Kal's anger instantly. She could not deny that it angered her as well. But even not knowing the whole story there was something in the way Lois sat on the ground rocking herself and crying that made her heart reach out to her. Kal had to come first though.

Diana could see that Kal was not himself and his whole body language screamed that he was contemplating murder. She stepped up to him touched him softly on the shoulder and spoke his name calmly. "Kal."

Clark withered at the touch and sound of his name. He felt some of his berserker rage leave him but he did not let go of Ollie. "He slept with Lois while she was under mind control, Diana." He explained his actions as if seeking justification. "He claims he didn't know she was my wife, but he knew she was married. She was wearing her ring. But that has never mattered to Ollie. I think it matters to him now though," he snarled.

Diana listened to him. She understood now exactly why her best friend was struggling so hard. The man and husband in him wanted to kill. The good man and the hero who considered all life precious was losing the battle of wills. She kept her hand on his shoulder. "Kal. Please let him go. You cannot do this. Lois needs you. Ollie does not."

Clark sagged a bit. His hold on Ollie's neck loosened some and he allowed his feet to touch the ground. Clark's eyes were slowly coming back to normal as he addressed him, "Diana is right, you know. She is always right. You are not worth it. For your own good, please stay out of my way for the foreseeable future and never again refer to us as friends."

Clark let go of Ollie completely. Ollie's legs didn't have the strength to hold him up and he just sank to the ground shaking.

Clark just stood still staring at the wall. Diana walked in front of him and looked up into his eyes seeing the battle raging in his soul. She touched his face gently and compassionately. "I am here for you Kal. Lois needs you. She needs to know that you don't blame her and that you love her. I will have Ollie transported up to the Watchtower and I will speak with him. If either of you need me let me know and I will come immediately."

Clark nodded his head. His eyes calmed as he finally focused on Diana's face. Her voice was so gentle and soothing and he knew that she was right. He had to set his own feelings and wants aside for the moment. Lois was the victim here and she needed him. They both walked over to where Lois sat on the floor. She didn't look up at them just kept rocking herself and repeating over and over, "It's not true. It wasn't me."

Diana knelt down beside her and touched one of her tightly clenched hands. looking into Lois's eyes she saw that Lois was completely lost. There was no battle raging as had been the case with Kal. She seemed almost catatonic. "Lois. It's me, Diana. Kal knows that you were not yourself. He does not blame you for what happened."

Lois stopped rocking herself and stared at Diana. The lost look was soon replaced with one of recognition followed quickly with a look of rage, but it quickly passed to one of relief and Lois flung her arms around Diana's neck and continued to cry.

Clark finally melted, as Diana had known that he would. He knelt down next to Diana and Lois and placed his hand on her back. His body trembled again, but this time not with rage. "I am sorry, Lois. I'm here. I'm not going to leave you."

Diana slowly stood up and Lois clung to Clark. "I will be back," she promised.

Clark looked up at her and smiled, "Thank you, Diana. We will see you soon."

Diana went over to Ollie, stood him up on his shaky legs and had Michael teleport them up to the Watchtower.

======J======

Metropolis County Jail

Holding cell

Max Lord sat on a bench against a concrete wall. There were several other people in the holding cell with him. The tape around his mouth had been removed just before he had been thrown into the cell. He was confident of escape but he would need just the right sort of help.

Most of the men in the cell with him didn't seem to pose much of a physical threat but all eyed him with disdain and a few with outright antagonism. Finally two walked over to him. One was roughly his size and more muscular the other was quite a bit larger. He suddenly remembered having sex with the smaller man's pretty wife. He had done so while he looked on unable to move or stop him or his wife. He wondered briefly why he was in a holding cell. He could smell the booze on him and figured that it answered at least part of the question.

The man whose wife he had taken advantage of sat down next to him, starring at him the whole time. The larger one stood in front of him. His fists looked large and he imagined they could do a lot of damage. This would work out quite well.

"I know you remember me, lover boy." The man next to him said in a very loud voice. He hiccupped in his ear as he said this.

Max turned his head slowly and looked at him with a smile on his face. "How could I forget. You and your wife were patients of mine several weeks ago. How is your little wife, by the way? Did you start having sex with her the way I demonstrated for you? If you haven't you should. She really enjoyed that. If you can't remember what I showed you or if you are unable to please her just bring her back in and I can show you again. It's really nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of men have no clue how to please their women. Believe me, you're not the only man to have sat in my office with his mouth open in disbelief watching while his wife had a screaming orgasm. It happens almost every day!"

Max saw the fist coming and let it connect. He fell to the floor at the feet of the larger man. His nose was bleeding from the blow and he saw stars for a moment but he also smiled.

The larger man picked him up by the shirt.

"Are you any relation to our sexually inept friend over here?" he asked.

"I'm his cousin," the man answered.

"Excellent. Would you do me a favor and beat your cousin to death? Nothing complicated just maybe bash his head into the floor until you feel his skull crack then keep slamming it into the concrete for a few more minutes. You'll do that for me?"

The man nodded his head.

"Excellent. Now, I'm going to try and intervene to save your cousin's life, so you will have to knock me down. I don't care if you punch, push or kick me away, just don't knock me out when you do. Understood?" Max asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. Began," Max instructed as he wiped his nose.

"What was he saying to you?" the drunk man asked, standing up with both fists ready to continue what he had started. The larger man struck him the ground. Max leaped at him. "Don't kill him!" he screamed.

The larger man shoved him into the wall. Max hit it and slowly slumped to the floor, wiped his nose and watched with a smile as the big man murdered his cousin in front of him.

**A/N:**

**I want to thank SuperCharles for allowing me to use the "Hermes gift" idea for Diana's power of flight and the invisible jet. It is a nod and reference to his "The Ages of Superman United." It is a fabulously written story and it is still ongoing. I heartily recommend it to any who are not already aware of it.**

**Thank you to all who are taking the time to read this story and a big thank you to all who have taken the time to comment. The comments are much appreciated.**

18


	18. Chapter 18

The Birthday Present

Chapter 17

Getting Tied Up With A Lasso Can Be Pretty Cool. Getting Tied Up With Two Lasso's Is Even Better

======W======

"J'onn?"

J'onn opened his eyes. He had been deep in meditation but still allowed himself to sense if he were being contacted. He didn't like to shut himself off completely, only on the occasions when Superman or Dr. Fate or Captain Marvel was on duty. None of the three were tonight nor was Diana or Karen. This made him and Maxima the go to people if a serious threat appeared. The other powerhouses would get called in for backup.

Since he had not completely shut himself out he was somewhat surprised that Maxima was calling to him from outside of his door. He found it strange that he had not sensed her presence before she reached his room. She was one of the few that shared his telepathic powers, although hers were not nearly as developed as his. He imagined that as she aged her powers would grow just as they had with him. J'onn stood and opened the door. Maxima smiled up at him and came into the room.

"Something troubles you, my friend." J'onn did not say it as a question. He was studying her and noted that something seemed off. She seemed nervous and tired, and Maxima was not a woman that one would normally categorize as nervous or tired. She was always brimming with self confidence and filled with energy.

Maxima nodded; she seemed to go limp for a second. J'onn caught her and held her carefully studying her face. It was definitely Maxima but there was something else or someone else in her mind, something or someone evil. J'onn closed his eyes and tried to focus on finding Maxima's enemy.

Maxima's eyes suddenly fluttered open and her pretty violet eyes looked up into J'onn's strong green face. His eyes were closed as he tried to discover and expel her from her host. Circe smiled. J'onn was definitely a challenge for her but not when caught by surprise. With a cruel smile she waved her hand in front of J'onn's closed eyes. "Burn." She said.

J'onn collapsed to the floor, gasping for air even though he did not need it. He saw flames all around him, separating him from everything he held dear. The heat made his skin blister. He stayed paralyzed on the floor unable to act and then he heard a voice. It was a lovely voice. It was soothing. He felt some of the pain go away.

"J'onn. You are in pain and you are alone. There is no one here on this planet who truly understands you. You are ancient when compared to your teammates. It is a wonder that your mind, as strong as it is, can still function properly. I imagine that most days you just want to give in to despair, to stop struggling, to stop being strong and just weep for all that you have lost and for the thousands of years of loneliness yet to come. It is too much for any being to live with such pain, even one with your strength of character." Circe watched him closely.

J'onn's body seemed to shudder and tremble as if it were being riddled with a thousand bullets. The painful memories and the lonely, hopeless future pressed in on him like the ocean on a sinking submarine. He gasped out in despair as he tried to find an anchor and reclaim his mind.

"You may or may not overcome this sadness. But it is something for which you must shed many tears. Many here will call themselves your friends. They will seek to comfort you, to advise you even to ask advice of you but they are not true friends. They seek to distract you from your loss and your pain. Do not be distracted. Embrace your loss and pain and weep. Let your anguish and your Martian tears flow freely. When you hear your name spoken it will trigger you to tears. When you hear of an attack by an enemy, you will cry. When you see pain in others it will make you weep. It is the only way for you to honor your family and your dead world. I give you this gift, the gift of tears. You will not remember me but you will be grateful. Stay another day or two here in your room before you reveal your misery to your teammates." Circe stood up with a smile.

J'onn was curled up in a ball on the floor his red eyes staring at nothing as tears flowed freely and his body continued to convulse as if in agony.

"Yes. Let it all out. Good-bye, J'onn. Chances are that you will not see Maxima's body again, but if you do, you will not remember this moment." Touching J'onn's arm tenderly, Circe left the room.

======M======

Metropolis County Jail

Max actually had a headache. The large man had shoved unnecessarily hard and his head had struck the brick wall rather soundly. Still, it was helpful for his plan to be slightly injured. He let himself slump limply against the wall and the floor. Police, with their weapons drawn, flooded into the large holding cell. There were shouts and phone calls. The large man was put in handcuffs and led out. The dead body was removed. There was an officer squatting next to him. He was telling him to hold on, that help was on the way.

Max glanced at the man's badge. Officer Flynn. Max liked that name. It was a strong Irish name. Officer Flynn looked like a strong honest man and a good police officer. He hoped that he would accompany him to the hospital.

The medics arrived and Max was put on a gurney and carried to the ambulance. He smiled to himself as a police officer stepped into the ambulance with him. He was a bit disappointed that it wasn't Officer Flynn, but this officer would do just fine. The ambulance lights and siren went off and the ambulance pulled away to the hospital. Max smiled as he lay still on his back while the ambulance moved him further away from the jail and closer to freedom.

======M======

Superman scooped Lois up and flew her to the apartment. His mind and emotions were still in turmoil but he knew that Diana was right. He had to focus on his wife. She was the victim, not so much of Ollie as of Dr. Williams.

Clark sat down on the sofa holding Lois close. As he studied her face and listened to her heart and her sobs, he knew that his emotional and mental turmoil were nothing compared to hers. He held and rocked her softly pressing his lips gently against her forehead. He knew that if he felt dirty and violated then Lois felt more so.

"I'm not leaving, Lois. I'm right here. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you. I had no idea that Dr. Williams was a mind controller," Clark began.

Lois suddenly stopped sobbing and looked at Clark incredulously. "Dr. Williams is a very nice man and he is innocent. There is no way he killed that poor girl. You have to go back with me. I know once you talk to him you'll see that I'm right."

It was Clark's turn to look incredulous. "I'm not talking about the girl. I'm talking about him mind controlling you. What I don't understand is why he sent you to Ollie."

"I was mind controlled? That has to explain it! But I don't understand how Green Arrow mind controlled me. I know it couldn't have been Dr. Williams. I don't remember much, but I remember how nice he was and that he wanted me to return to see him and bring you along. He really wanted to meet you." Lois was emphatic.

Clark was amazed at Lois's transformation. She had not known that she was mind controlled! And she thought that Dr. Williams was innocent of mind controlling her and of murder! Nightwing had started to explain what had happened but he had not waited for him to finish. He remembered him saying that Dr. Williams was in custody. He would need to speak with Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl about Dr. Williams.

The other problem was that Lois was obviously still under some degree of mind control. The first person that came to mind was Diana. He knew that her lasso would burn away any lie and reveal the truth to Lois. J'onn and Maxima also came to mind with their telepathic abilities, but he doubted that he would need their help if he could get Diana to come down. He knew that she would do anything to help them. One couldn't ask for a better friend.

Still holding Lois, he tried to explain gently, "Dr. Williams is in police custody for murder, attempted murder and kidnapping. I don't think he's the nice man you believe that he is and where is my hard, skeptical, don't believe anything unless she sees it with her own eyes or in writing, brilliant reporter wife when I need her?"

Lois just stared at him for a moment. Her eyes were big. She looked shocked and angry. She started crying again and mumbling. Clark found it disturbing that she kept repeating what a nice man Dr. Williams was.

Clark tried to get up so that he could contact Nightwing, but Lois just clung tightly to him. He sat back on the couch with Lois. He would call Nightwing and Diana but he would have to do it later.

======W======

Diana and Ollie teleported into the Watchtower. No one on the station knew what had happened between Ollie and Lois and Superman. Diana wanted to keep it that way for now. She saw no need to embarrass her friend more.

Mr. Terrific was on monitor duty. He smiled at the two as they stepped off of the teleporter. He had not expected Wonder Woman for the next couple of days and everyone knew that Ollie and Dinah were having problems. He had expected Ollie to give him a knowing wink or a thumbs up indicating his company but he was surprised to see Diana with a very serious face and Ollie in a visible state of panic.

Diana turned to Mr. Terrific, "I'm going to be in one of the holding cells with Ollie for the next little while. Please do not allow us to be disturbed."

Mr. Terrific was a bit perplexed. If almost any other female had said that to him in reference to Ollie he would have instantly known that it was about sex, but not with Diana. Her whole demeanor was business and his was panic; nothing sexual going on here. "Sure. You'll have complete privacy," he answered.

Diana and Ollie walked down the hall towards the last of the holding cells. Just before they entered they saw Maxima come out of an elevator that led to the sleeping quarters. She smiled when she saw them. "Hello, Princess Diana. Green Arrow." Turning towards Diana she asked, "Do you think it possible for us to have a friendly spar later? I cannot now, I'm on my way to speak with John and Kyle."

Diana smiled. "Hello, Princess Maxima. I am not sure if I will be able to today, but I will let you know if things change." Diana answered. The two of them always had good sparing sessions but she didn't think today would be possible.

Circe kept her eyes averted from Diana the whole time. She did not try to read the Princess' mind. She knew that she was somewhat resistant to mind control and she didn't want to go all out yet. She had her plan. She did however read Ollie's mind and was shocked by what she saw there. This was very good. It would help her plan immensely. There was probably very little she would have to actually do at first, but she was going to have to replace the princess's lasso. That was crucial.

Circe continued down the hall as Diana and Ollie entered the holding cell. Once she reached the monitoring station she learned from Mr. Terrific that John and Kyle were not currently on the station. That was a little disappointing but she had another project to focus on anyway.

She made her way to her room and locked herself in. Her guards looked at her with some concern but said nothing. She had been behaving rather strangely but as a princess she had the right to behave as she pleased and her behavior had not been antagonistic or cruel. So they just manned their posts and did not discuss it.

Once she was safely locked in her quarters she looked at herself in the mirror and laughed.

Maxima stared back at her in a panic. "What have you done, Witch?" Maxima asked.

Circe smiled, "I am taking over your body. Every hour I have more control and you less. My plan is moving along nicely and it seems that your friends will do some of the damage to each other without our intervention. Now be quiet, slave. I have important work to do." Circe uttered words that sounded horrible. Words that made Maxima's skin crawl.

Maxima felt herself falling faster and faster and suddenly she was back in her dungeon and chained to the stones. She knew she had to escape. She had to warn her friends. Focusing all of her strength she began yanking on the heavy chains that weighed her down.

Circe turned from the mirror with a satisfied smile, "It's getting too easy. She is almost no longer a challenge."

Circe let the smile disappear as she focused her mind on her new task. Chanting words that she had learned while in the underworld, she dropped to her knees and bent herself over backwards until her head, shoulders and upper back touched the floor. Writhing and sweating she repeated the chant over and over until a small portal appeared. She sat up still chanting and reached in. When she withdrew her hand she held a golden lariat. Once she had it in her hands she collapsed onto the floor panting for breath.

When she had regained her strength, she sat up caressing the soft silky material.  
"You will be most vulnerable." Circe laughed quietly to herself, "Yes, you will be most vulnerable, Princess."

======M======

Maxima had one arm free. She could hear Circe and she knew what she had planned. She didn't know what she would be able to do but she knew that she had to do something.

======M======

Lois was asleep. Clark carried her to their bed, made sure she was comfortable then left the room and contacted Nightwing via the secure com-link that Bruce had provided him.

"Nightwing here." His voice came across as very nervous.

"Could you and Barbara meet me at my apartment? Oh, and Bruce? If you're listening, could you come as well?" Clark asked.

"We'll be right there, Big Guy." Nightwing answered.

It was quiet for a moment more, then, "I'll see you in a little bit, Clark."

Clark almost smiled, "Thanks, Bruce. I knew I could count on you."

He clicked off and then contacted Diana.

======W======

Diana had a loop of her lasso around Ollie's wrist. He had volunteered to have it done while she asked him about the night with Lois. He didn't trust himself to be truthful otherwise. It was clear to Diana that Ollie had not paid Lois's strange behavior much mind. He had been thinking strictly about sex and hadn't bothered to question why she was suddenly so willing to have sex with him. He had behaved callously but he had truly not known that Lois was married to Clark.

Diana knew that Ollie would have to take some time off from the League and spend time away from Kal for sure. She knew that she would be able to convince Kal to not hurt Ollie and she figured Ollie was scared enough to perhaps make some seriously different choices in life from now on. And she was sure that he would not behave so callously again, at least not in the near future.

Ollie was so scared, that in fact he had made no advances on her while under the power of her lasso.

Diana's communicator went off. She saw that it was Kal. She excused herself from Ollie and stepped out into the hall. She left her lasso looped around his wrist and commanded him to stay put.

Ollie looked at the door miserably. He knew his life would be taking a drastic change now. What he had done was unacceptable. It didn't matter that he hadn't known. He should have seen the signs. He had seen such things before. He had even trained with Bruce on how to resist mind control. He was still mentally kicking himself.

The door slid open. Ollie looked up expecting to see Diana but was shocked to see Maxima. Any other time he would have been delighted, today he was too ashamed. He noticed that her eyes seemed different somehow and then she touched his head. Ollie shot back in his seat. He felt as if his mind had just been slammed by a truck. He could hear Maxima talking but it didn't sound like the sort of things that Maxima would say. His eyes were half closed but he was struggling mentally to keep control of his mind. He had never felt such power.

"You will sleep, Mortal. You will not see this exchange you will not remember me and it seems that you are no longer a Justice Leaguer. That is quite the appetite for woman that you have. I am surprised that you have not encountered serious trouble before now. Good-bye, pawn."

Ollie's mind was reeling. He heard the voice. It was very nice. He saw a very beautiful woman leaving the room. He wondered if he had slept with her. He knew he would want to remember having sex with her but he couldn't. He really liked sex. There was something he needed to remember. Wait! Diana was coming into the room. He wondered if she would have sex with him. He was pretty sure he could pull it off. He'd done it with one of Maxima's body guards and they were very strong.

Diana really looked lovely. As she sat down next to him he reached out and pinched her butt. He saw her eyes flash and thought she looked very sexy. Then as she watched him suspiciously he slumped into unconsciousness with a stupid smile and strange words on his lips, "There's two of them. Two. I never knew that. I wonder if Bruce knew that. He thinks he knows everything."

And he was out.


	19. Chapter 19

The Birthday Present

Chapter 18

If You Really Want To Help Then You'll Give My Man A Good Humping On His Birthday.

======M======

Max lay still on the gurney with his eyes closed and breathing shallowly. There were three others in the ambulance with him; the driver, a second EMT sitting on his right and the cop on his left. He ignored the two in the back with him and focused on the driver.

Some minutes later the ambulance came to stop. Looking out the back window the officer was surprised to see that they were parked close to the river among some abandoned warehouses, nowhere near the hospital. Something was definitely wrong. Nervously the officer reached for his radio. As he brought his radio to his mouth he suddenly felt a sense of relief. He knew that everything would be fine. He just had to get rid of the two EMT's. They definitely were intent on killing him and the prisoner. He replaced his radio on his belt and drew his revolver.

At the same time the EMT sitting to the right of Max noticed that his nose was bleeding. Reaching down with some gauze, he wiped his nose clean and tossed the bloodied gauze into a biohazard container. When he looked back down at Mr. Williams he saw that he was awake and staring at the police officer. He looked up to find the officer pointing his revolver at his head. Before he could protest or move the gun spat death at him and his body, minus a good portion of bone and brain matter, slumped to the floor.

The driver stepped out of the vehicle robotically and walked to the back. He opened the doors slowly and stood staring blankly into the back of the ambulance. The officer's gun roared twice more and the driver lay on his back staring blankly up at the morning sky.

Max sat up on the gurney. He had wanted to wear one of the EMT's uniforms but both were ruined. Shrugging, he had the officer remove his uniform and hand it to him. It would be a little bit baggy on him but not too bad. He had the officer roll both of the bodies into the river then had him sit down in the water and take his revolver and shoot himself in the head. Satisfied that all three were dead he climbed into the driver's seat and drove away whistling.

======W======

Diana stared at Ollie for a moment more. Something was wrong with him. He hadn't acted in this manner before she had left the room. She remembered how Kal had acted when wrapped in her lasso and she blushed.

She knew it must be the lasso. It compelled the truth and burned away the lies but it also revealed the soul. And Ollie's soul was all about loving women. Diana sighed in exasperation and removed her lasso from Ollie and attached it at her waist. She had sudden pleasant memories of her times with Kal before and after he had gotten married.

She found herself wondering why he had been so hasty and why he couldn't spend more time with her even now. She knew that there were people that had more than one physical lover and she was certain that Kal would be perfectly capable of loving more than one woman. He had such a big heart. She also found herself wondering if perhaps his love life was unsatisfying. He always seemed to be so tense and so wound up.

Diana had also noted that Kal had even become a little more aggressive than necessary as of late when stopping criminals. He hadn't crossed any line but it was obvious that the criminal element noticed it as well. They were causing much less problems as of late and the ones that were dumb enough to go ahead with a scheme gave up surprisingly quickly when Superman showed up. It seemed they were becoming just as scared of Superman as most of the Gotham underworld was of Batman.

Diana had to suppress a grin. She found it amusing that so many feared Bruce. One mentioned the name Batman to a Gotham criminal and he would practically wet his pants. And that so few feared Superman who could, with very little physical effort, wipe out most anyone he desired.

Diana shook her head to clear it. She wondered where the strange thoughts had come from. He belonged to Lois and Lois to him. Choices had been made and would have to be honored and she would not be one to dishonor Kal's choices.

Diana stood up and left the unconscious Ollie in the room. Speaking into her communicator she contacted Mr. Terrific. "We are through in the holding cell, Michael. Please make sure that Ollie is sent back to his home. He will not be joining us again for some time.

"I'll get right on it, Wonder Woman. Thanks for the heads up," Mr. Terrific responded.

Diana headed over to the teleporting station. Just as she was about to step onto the platform to head down to Clark and Lois' apartment she heard her name. Diana turned and saw Hal walking towards her. He seemed nervous and it was obvious he needed to talk to her about something. Diana stepped away from the platform and walked towards him. She saw Dinah walk in behind him. When Dinah saw the two of them she started grinning. Diana wondered briefly why she seemed so amused, and then Hal was talking.

"Listen, Diana. Please don't get angry with me. But we both know this isn't going to work." Hal looked at Diana pleadingly.

Diana stared back at Hal completely confused. She looked over at Dinah and noted that she seemed to be struggling valiantly to keep from laughing. Michael had gone to collect Ollie so it was just the three of them present. She wondered if Hal was joking. He seemed to have a well developed sense of humor, although she found Wally to be funnier.

"What isn't going to work, Hal?" Diana asked gently. She could see that he was very nervous and didn't want to assume that he was joking.

"Us, it was a wonderful dream and I know that our feelings are strong and for obvious reasons. You are the loveliest woman in the known universe and I'm, well, it's pretty obvious why you fell for me as well, but this can only end in disaster. I'm not really good at dealing with jealously or with really bad tempers and I don't like the idea of getting beat up by Superman every time he decides to come steal my girl. And I have to say that it is a bit disturbing that you would just let him take you away in that manner with such a happy look on your face. So it's probably best if we just stay good friends. You know, watch each other's backs, stay close, but not get into a serious relationship; nothing binding anyway. What do you think?" Hal was looking at her hopefully.

Diana stared at him still somewhat confused. It seemed that Hal thought that she desired him romantically and he was concerned about getting beat up by Kal. She did think it quite funny. She was sure now that she knew why Dinah was trying not to laugh. What was strange was that Hal seemed so serious. Diana was in a hurry and didn't want to hurt Hal's feelings. "We're not going to work and you want us to stay friends? As far as I am concerned, our friendship has never been in jeopardy," Diana responded warmly. She was still not sure whether or not he was joking.

Hal smiled. He was still a bit nervous but it seemed Diana was taking everything pretty well so far.

Diana smiled kindly back at him. She was no less confused but the day had been very strange. "Yes, Hal, we will continue to be friends. It is an honor to work and fight beside you. I would like to speak to you more about this but I need to hurry. Kal is waiting for me right now."

Hal beamed then frowned. "Yes, go on. I was gonna offer you a parting hug and kiss. Just to end everything on good terms but it's probably for the best if we don't give in to such temptations and you mustn't keep Superman waiting. We wouldn't want him to come up here and drag you away by your hair."

Diana wasn't sure what Hal was talking about or why he seemed so out of sorts but she was in a hurry. She clasped his hand in both of hers, smiled up into his face then stepped up onto the platform and teleported down to Kal's apartment. She still couldn't figure out whether or not Hal had been joking but she was almost certain that she knew why Dinah had been struggling not to giggle the whole time.

======M======

Nightwing and Batgirl sat on the love seat in Clark's apartment. They were both nervous and it was obvious that Clark was upset as well. He was pacing back and forth in the living room. He wore jeans and a white tee shirt, no socks or glasses. He wasn't walking with his Clark Kent slouch nor did he have his s curl gelled back.

Both Barb and Dick thought it was amazing to see Clark looking like Superman; to see him both relaxed and angry at the same time. It was not something they were accustomed used to and it was a bit unnerving.

Barbara spoke up, "Clark, I'm so sorry I failed you and Lois. I should have been faster. I just didn't know what to do. It just didn't make any sense to me. I froze; I never freeze but I had no idea how to handle what happened," she explained desperately.

Clark turned to her and smiled weakly, "I don't hold you responsible for what happened, Barbara. I understand your dilemma. I'm angrier at myself for letting Lois go alone and I am furious with Ollie. I'm pretty sure he didn't know that Lois was my wife but he knew she was married. I find his behavior inexcusable as a man and as member of the League. But to be perfectly honest I don't want to speak or think about what happened with Ollie right now. I find myself entertaining thoughts that if followed through would make me a monster and I know I can't go there. What I want to know is everything you can tell me about this Dr. Williams."

Dick cleared his throat. "Well, he's definitely dirty and he is definitely a telepath. He can control people's minds and apparently he uses it primarily to have sex with any woman that walks through the doors of his club and he enjoys embarrassing husbands and boyfriends by making them watch. It seems that half of his club is staffed by mildly mind controlled women. The rest are his thugs. Probably some of them are mind controlled as well. In addition to mind control, he sells and I'm sure either manufactures or buys a new date rape drug called "Easy". The FBI has been investigating him for a while and one of their agents disappeared and was later found dead. Last night he kidnapped another agent and was about to have his way with her and then kill her when I stopped him."

Clark stopped Dick with a hand in the air. "This guy is worse than I thought. Murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, rape, of both body and mind, he's doing it all. Lois and I were also investigating the 'Easy' angle."

"His name isn't Dr. Williams. His name is Maxwell Lord."

The three turned to see a tall, powerfully built man in rough clothes. He wore sunglasses, sported a mustache and had a match sticking out of his mouth. He was standing just inside the window. Clark had heard him but had not expected the disguise.

Dick and Barb both immediately said, "Hi, Bruce!" They both received a cold look.

"Oh, alright! Matches! Hi Matches!" Dick said with a smirk.

Matches finally stepped into the room from the shadows and took a seat on the lazy boy across from Dick and Barbara.

Dick and Barbara smiled briefly. Dick and Bruce were constantly sneaking up on each other practicing their stealth and infiltration skills. Both were good enough to catch each other off guard and in the last couple of years neither had been able to detect the other until too late; a fact that both were very proud of.

Bruce leaned forward and Clark sat down on the couch to listen. Just as Bruce was about to start speaking, Diana teleported into the room. She smiled at the group and looked at Clark carefully reading his body language. Satisfied that he was in control of his emotions at the moment, she gave him a quick reassuring pat on the arm and then sat next to him on the couch.

As she sat down, she adjusted her lasso so that she wouldn't sit on it. At the same time, Clark placed his hand on the couch to move over a bit to give Diana enough room so that she wasn't half sitting on him. The lasso touched both of their hands. The effects weren't immediate, or obvious to the other three, but Clark never moved his hand away from her lasso and Diana didn't either. They ended up sitting so close that their legs were touching and beneath the folds of the lasso they were almost holding hands.

Bruce waited until Diana was seated and then begin. "It appears that this Maxwell Lord has had these abilities for some time. I still don't know if he is alien, if he's been experimented on or if he has a natural ability. I'm sure you all remember the man that wanted to run the League like a business. That was Maxwell Lord. He's undergone some plastic surgery and he's been out of the country developing his abilities, his identity and his "business". An FBI agent was tracking the shipments of the drug he's developed and began making inquires. After enough snooping she discovered that his real name is Maxwell Lord. She went to his swingers club to confront him and disappeared only to resurface as a corpse in the Metropolis River. Her friend, Margo Jones, followed her trail here and almost ended up dead as well."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Clark finally spoke up. "He did a real number on Lois. She thinks he's a very 'nice' man and that Ollie is somehow responsible for her mind controlled state last night. She wanted me to go see him with her today."

Nightwing and Batgirl looked at each other and at Clark. "He told her to bring you back to him as soon as she could. He just wanted to humiliate the two of you further," Barbara explained.

Diana frowned, "This man sounds very evil. It is good that this man is no longer a threat. It would have been awful if he had been able to gain control of Kal's mind. I believe we would have all been in danger. Where is he now?"

"It appears that he has escaped. No one has heard from the officer that accompanied him or the EMT's in the ambulance that was transporting him. Nightwing and I will track him down. We can both resist mind control and he poses no physical threat that we cannot handle." Bruce shocked everyone.

"He got away?" Dick couldn't believe it. "I told them under no circumstances to allow him to speak! How in the world are we gonna keep this guy in prison if he can mind control anybody he wants?"

"We don't send him to prison." Bruce answered expressionlessly.

"What alternative do we have, Bruce?" Barbara asked. "I know you don't mean kill him."

"There's always an alternative," Bruce answered.

"Not always," Diana replied sadly.

It was quiet again for a minute. Once again it was Clark who broke the silence. "You're right, Diana. But I think Bruce is right as well. There is an alternative here and I don't think there's anybody here that would rather see this man dead than me."

"You're going to need help finding this creep, and I can help you," Barbara pointed out.

"I could help you as well. I am very resistant to mind control," Diana added.

"I am not yet completely resistant but I have been practicing the techniques that you and Diana taught me diligently," Clark offered.

Bruce addressed Barbara first. "You can, but I don't want you anywhere near this man. You are not yet capable of resisting mind control. You can help us on the technical and surveillance end. Diana, you could definitely help, but I think you're going to have your hands full with Clark and Lois, and Clark, you are in no shape to help find this man. Even if you were completely capable of resisting mind control your emotions might get the better of you and I don't want you doing something you'll regret the rest of your life."

Clark, Diana and Barbara reluctantly agreed with Bruce and watched as he and Nightwing disappeared out the window.

Barbara smiled at Diana and Clark. Leaning in towards Diana, she whispered, "Don't forget about next week."

Diana smiled, "I will not."

Barbara stood up and patted Clark's hand, "Clark, I'm so sorry about what happened. I hope you can forgive me."

Clark smiled at Barbara. "I forgive you and I'm not deaf. I heard what you said to Diana. I don't want a party."

Barbara grinned, "I don't know what you're talking about. I gotta go get set up for Batman and Nightwing. We'll talk soon." She disappeared out the front door.

Diana and Clark both stood up as Barbara was leaving. They didn't even notice the shift in their behavior. Diana studied Clark's face carefully. She could see that he was suppressing his own inner turmoil and keeping himself in control for the sake of everyone else. She wanted to offer him a sparring session but thought better of it. She was about to speak and she could see that he was about to as well. Both stopped and then started again and then stopped once more.

"Go ahead, Diana, ladies first." Clark smiled woodenly.

Diana went ahead, "Go on up to the Watchtower and use the training room for an hour or more. I'll stay with Lois while you work off your rage. It will do you good. Make sure you use the highest level of difficulty. If it's too easy for you then use your training programs and Kryptonian robots at the Fortress."

Clark smiled, "Okay, I think I'll do that. Contact me if you need anything, and Diana?"

"Yes, Kal?"

"I don't want a party. I'm not in the mood for one," Clark said flatly.

Diana smiled softly, "I know. It's everyone else that wants one and very few know what just happened. We'll have to figure out something to make your birthday special this year. Especially after all that has happened. If anyone deserves to have a nice birthday it's you, Kal."

Clark smiled down at Diana, "Thank you, Diana. Right now I'm not interested in having a nice day. I'm going to go work out some of my excess rage. I'm going to go straight to the Fortress. I don't want to bump into Ollie and the training programs up on the Watchtower just aren't enough for me anyway. Thank you for staying with Lois. I'll see you later." He bent down, kissed Diana's cheek and was gone.

Diana hoped that her suggestion would help.

She was just about to sit back down when she heard Lois call for her. Diana walked into the room to see Lois sitting up in bed.

"Hello, Lois." Diana greeted her gently.

"Hi, Diana. Clark is gone?" she asked.

"He just left, but I will call him back if you wish," Diana answered.

"No, he probably doesn't want to look at me right now, and I don't blame him. He'll probably never want to touch me again either, not that there is much that I can do for him anyway. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to see him right now. Can you believe that he thinks Dr. Williams is a mind controller and a murderer? He saw the Green Arrow with me, but he can't blame a fellow Leaguer. He has to go after an innocent man!" Lois sounded like she was getting border-line hysterical.

Diana was taken aback by Lois's response and she was shocked at her admission that she could not satisfy Kal sexually. She responded in the most honest and positive way that she could. "Kal loves you, Lois, and he is certainly in turmoil over what has happened, but I do not believe that he wishes to push you away or to pull away from you. I'm afraid that what you believe about Dr. Williams is incorrect. Kal is right; he is a murderer and he has the ability to control minds. I think he is still affecting your mind. He must be quite powerful. I hope that you will not try to contact this man again. He is dangerous and poisonous. The Green Arrow did not mind control you. He does not have those abilities. He is simply a man who thinks of little else other than having sex in his free time. He did not know that you are the wife of Superman although he realized that you were married. I believe that he is being sufficiently punished right now and hope that he makes better choices in the future."

Lois sat looking at Diana suspiciously for a moment then she sighed, "You know, you have that annoying little personality trait of always telling the truth so I'll buy most of your story. The parts about Dr. Williams being bad I find really hard to swallow but I'll wait to go and see him with Clark and not by myself." Lois finished and sat looking at Diana intently for another moment. Finally she spoke again.

"I'm scared, Diana," Lois said simply.

Diana looked at her with concerned filled eyes. "You do not need to be afraid, Lois."

"Yes, I do. I was with many different men before Clark. And I doubt that there is a more generous or selfless lover out there. But as good as he is there are two things that I crave from him that he can't give me." Lois looked at Diana waiting for her to respond.

Diana looked a little embarrassed by Lois' bluntness. "What can't Kal give you, Lois. How can he be generous and unselfish and still not satisfy you?"

Lois laughed, "Oh, he satisfies me many times over and not just physically. What I'm talking about is children and letting go. Clark cannot or refuses to try and have children with me. He's worried that if I were to become pregnant, which he doubts could happen, that the baby would kill me. And secondly, I want him to be able to let go when we're making love and he can't. If he did he could and probably would kill me. When I thought I was with him last night I was ecstatic because he wasn't holding back. He was giving me all he had. He couldn't keep up with me some of the time, but I guess being under mind control and wanting to have him be able to let go so badly blinded me to who I was with. I enjoyed myself in a way that I can't with Clark. I can't go to sleep knowing that I have satisfied my husband. But last night I knew that my man was as exhausted and satisfied as I was and I want to have that again."

Diana was shocked at Lois' admission. "I never knew that Lois." Diana said ruefully, "I guess I had no business knowing that so that is why I am so surprised. What do you want to do? If you leave Clark, he will be devastated. He loves you."

"Lois sighed, "I don't know what I want to do. I do know that I want his birthday to be very special. I think I want you to help give Clark his best birthday ever. I want you to help me get superpowers so that I can tire him out in bed!"

Diana looked at Lois in complete shock. "Help you get super powers? Lois. I don't know how to do that!"

Lois was adamant. "You need to find a way. If you can't then I want you to be his birthday present from me. Just for his birthday. He won't have to hold back with you and, besides, I know that you two love each other. I think everybody that knows you two know that you love each other. You two are just too honorable to do anything about it."

Diana was aghast. "Lois, I cannot spend a night with Clark!. He is your husband, not mine. I think that whatever Max Lord did to your mind is affecting you. You are not thinking soundly and you have been through a horrible experience."

Lois looked a little annoyed. "You keep insisting that Dr. Williams is a horrible man. This has nothing to do with Dr. Williams. It has to do with me wanting Clark to have enjoyable sex for his birthday! I want to give it to him. So help me find a way to develop super powers for at least a few hours. If you can't then I want you to be his birthday present. We both know that you want to. You never said that you don't want to. You just keep telling me how he doesn't belong to you. That didn't stop the Green Arrow, now did it? And he didn't have permission! I'm giving you my permission."

Lois continued, "This whole investigation into the murdered agent and finding out about the swingers club has gotten me to think about things in a way that I never would have before. I know that Clark can be an insatiable animal in bed. It happened last year after he was hit with a red sun energy beam from one of Toyman's inventions. There was a whole week where he was able to make love to me without holding anything back, well, maybe a little. I guess Kryptonians are physically stronger than humans anyway, but he was able to really enjoy himself. At the same time he was also being hunted like an animal by his enemies. I can't ask him to take those risks for me.

Lois could see that Diana was not going for her pitch. "Listen, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, of course. I can always ask Princess Maxima or Powergirl, but I don't really know the princess and I think that Powergirl is sort of his cousin or something," Lois finished and waited for the shocked Diana to respond.

Diana sat rigidly on the edge of the bed. She could not believe her ears. "Lois, I want to help in any way that I can to make Kal's birthday special but I do not think that this idea of yours is a healthy one, especially given what you have just been through. You know that I care for Kal. We are best friends. He is a treasure of a man and you are blessed to be his wife and we are all blessed to have him in our lives. But as you said, he is your man, not mine. I know that you are offering this and that it is not easy for you to do and very selfless of you but I cannot accept. I think that it would hurt you in the long run and I'm sure that it would hurt Kal as well. Please do not insist. I fear that I would accept and be the cause of more pain and turmoil."

Lois just smirked, "Fine, you're scared, but you know you want to do it. I am not going to keep insisting. What I really want is for you to find a way to give me temporary super powers so that I can have fun with him. But if you cannot then I am going to ask Powergirl and Princess Maxima. I'm sure one of them will be happy to spend a few hours in bed with him."

Diana did not know what to say. She looked at Lois, at the floor, at the wall. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Finally she struck on a possible solution, but she would have to have Lois' permission. "Lois, would you permit me to see the truth? It will involve letting me encircle you in my lariat. It burns away all lies and reveals the truth."

Lois looked at Diana suspiciously for a minute then nodded her head in agreement. "Go ahead, if it will ease your mind. I know that my mind is fine."

Diana looped the lasso around Lois's wrist a couple of time and hung on to it as well. Almost instantly she realized that Lois's offer was a very wonderful offer and she also knew that there were no gizmo's that she knew of that would give Lois super powers. And she would see Hades freeze over before she let Powergirl or Princess Maxima sleep with Kal!

Lois realized that this was something that she should have done long ago. She still wanted to gain super powers so that she could go all out with Clark but she also wanted to find the Green Arrow and spend another crazy night in bed with him. That's what she would do. Find Green Arrow. Have a couple nights of wild sex with him and then get her super powers and have amazing sex with Clark! It was perfect!

Diana placed the lasso back at her side. If she had focused she would have noted that she couldn't remember what she had seen but she had an overwhelming sense of wellbeing that everything was fine. Lois was of a sound mind and that made her offer legitimate.

Lois slumped back on the bed in a contented sleep. She was already dreaming of a very wild night with a couple of different men.

20


	20. Chapter 20

The Birthday Present

Chapter 19

Sometimes, Punching Things Or Certain People Is A Good Way To Work Off Anger And Frustrations. Sometimes It's Not. If You're Feeling Horny, Hitting Doesn't Help At All.

======W======

Michael entered the holding room to find Green Arrow slumped in his chair and apparently, unconscious. Michael wasn't sure of all that was going on but he knew that Ollie had done something to warrant being taken off the active member list even if it was only temporary.

Michael sat down next to him and spoke his name.

There was no response. He seemed to be more asleep than unconscious.

Michael poked him gently and had to leap back to avoid Ollie's sudden flying fists. Being seated made leaping back almost impossible, however Michael managed to push back and away from the suddenly animated Ollie so hard that he flipped his chair over backwards.

A less athletic man may have hurt himself, or, at the very least, gotten, "stuck". Michael, as startled as he was at Ollie's reaction and at his sudden predicament, still had the presence of mind to allow his legs to continue going over his head. He rolled away from the chair as it hit the floor and stood up looking warily at Ollie. He was a more skilled hand-to-hand fighter than Ollie, but Ollie was no slouch. He was a big and muscular man and while not in the top five hand-to-hand fighters in the League, he was definitely in the top ten and not to be underestimated.

Michael never underestimated anybody and he knew that all Ollie had to do was land a solid punch and he would be out for the count. As he studied Ollie he realized that he was definitely not himself. He wasn't acting as if he wanted to fight either. It seemed he had just woken him from a very bad dream.

"Ollie. It's me, Michael."

Ollie seemed to zoom in a little at the sound of Mr. Terrific's voice. His eyes seemed to focus and when he noticed Michael standing warily and the flipped over chair, he smiled.

"Yeah, I've told you before that you don't want to mess with me. Looks like I kicked your butt in my sleep. Well, that's what you get for trying to take advantage of me. That's not cool at all. You know I don't go for thistles and berries. I'll let it go this time. Just because I realize how irresistible I am, but if it happens again you're gonna get an arrow where the sun don't shine and you won't be going by the name Mr. Terrific anymore."

Michael sighed and relaxed. "Well, you sound just fine for a man who resembled a babbling idiot just seconds ago. Come on. I gotta escort you home. And don't worry. I'll control myself and not make any passes at you."

Ollie grinned. "Hey! You are smart! Okay, I'm ready. Um, why are we going to my house and why are you escorting me?"

"I have no idea what you've been doing. I can imagine quite a bit, but I'd rather not. All I know is that whatever happened, it was big enough or bad enough for Diana to bring you up here, interrogate you and tell me to escort you home. Apparently you aren't to be on the roster for the foreseeable future," Michael explained.

Ollie sat down heavily as the memories of the previous night and the morning came rushing back. He was surprised that he was still alive but then it was Superman and if there was anyone in the world that had self control, it was Superman. He knew that Diana had saved him from possible injury but he had been at Superman's mercy for a few minutes before she arrived and Ollie knew that Superman needed no time at all to destroy an opponent.

Green Arrow felt an overwhelming sense of regret wash over him. He had always teased Superman for not using his natural gifts to enjoy life. Ollie had just found it laughable that a man could ignore the offers and advances of beautiful women and Superman had never lacked for offers. Now, with all of his being, he respected and was grateful for the self-control and integrity of Superman.

Ollie found it ironic that now that he realized exactly what kind of man Superman was, he would probably never get the chance to be his friend. He knew that his sleeping with Lois had destroyed that possibility completely.

Ollie looked up at Michael and stood up with a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I won't be on the roster for the foreseeable future. Don't tell anyone anything. Let Diana handle this."

Michael nodded his head. "As you wish."

"I'm ready to go," Ollie whispered quietly.

The two left the room and headed for monitoring station and the teleport pads.

======MS======

Hal stood staring at the teleport pad that Diana had left on for a moment then turned to Dinah and grinned. "I think that went rather well. I do have a natural way with people."

Dinah couldn't stop grinning, "Yes. Yes you do! You should be a teacher or a public speaker. Flying around the universe and the earth and saving the day just seems like a waste of you natural talents." She moved up to Hal and the two stood staring at each other with happy grins on their faces.

As Hal stared down at Dinah he told himself that he would not mess this up. He wasn't going to break Dinah's heart. So he would not pursue a romantic relationship at the moment, not until he was sure that he could control his passions and his eyes.

Dinah stared up happily into Hal's warm brown eyes. She didn't think she would feel so strongly about a man. She had just finished with Ollie and her head told her it was way too early to be jumping into another relationship, especially with Hal. He was Ollie's best friend and he was just as much a ladies' man as Ollie was.

Dinah started to speak, "I think it's too soon for me, Hal, but I would like one more kiss."

Hal started to speak, "I don't think I'm right for you, Dinah. I need to prove to you and to me that I can control myself, but I would love to kiss you one more time."

The two of them stood staring at each other as their words registered. Their grins grew bigger and then slowly slipped as they drew closer together and their lips touched.

Ollie and Michael walked into the monitoring station to find Dinah and Hal coming together for very provocative kiss.

Michael was shocked by the sight.

Ollie went berserk.

Closing the distance on the unsuspecting pair, he tackled Hal to the floor.

Dinah gave out a yelp as she felt the attack. She opened her eyes to find Ollie strangling Hal at her feet. "Stop it!" she shouted.

It seemed that Ollie was too angry to hear her. Hal was trying vainly to push Ollie off of himself. He realized who it was instantly and refused to use his ring at first. He could only imagine what was going on in his mind and he knew that Ollie probably wouldn't talk to him again for a very long time.

Dinah was indignant. "Stop and get off of him now or I'm going to scream in your ear!" she shouted in Ollie's face. She was ready to act when Ollie suddenly noticed her and stopped. He slowly got up off of Hal.

Hal got up even slower, rubbing his neck. As he stood up he said, "It's not what it seems, Oll…Umph!"

Ollie punched Hal in the gut doubling him over. "Don't talk to me, friend," Ollie snarled sarcastically.

Dinah pushed Ollie away. "What do you think you're doing? Don't tell me you don't want anybody touching me? You don't get to act jealous, you pig! Go away! We're through! We're through! Done! And don't you ever lay a finger on Hal again!" Dinah seethed with indignant rage.

Ollie suddenly realized what he was doing. Looking at Dinah's lovely features all he saw there was anger and contempt. If there was hurt present it was buried deep. He realized in that instant that he had lost her. At the same time he remembered how Kal had reacted after catching him in a far more serious situation and he was instantly ashamed. He looked into Dinah's lovely blue eyes and said, "I'm sorry. Sorry for everything."

Without waiting for a reply he turned to Michael and said, "Okay, I'm ready to go."

Michael nodded and walked with an extremely quiet Ollie onto the teleporter pads. He was very confused about what was going on. He knew that Ollie and Dinah were an item and that Ollie had his occasional excursion but now it seemed that Dinah and Ollie were no more and now Dinah and Hal were together. It was too much for him to dwell on. With one last look at Dinah and the beaten Hal, Michael and Ollie disappeared.

Dinah stood fuming and staring angrily at the teleporter pads long after the two men had disappeared. A small groan brought her attention back to Hal. He was standing up and rubbing his stomach tenderly. "Remind me not to challenge him to sparring match anytime soon," he joked.

Dinah was not in the mood to appreciate humor. "He had no right to do that! Who does he think he is? Are you okay? Why didn't you defend yourself? Use your ring?"

Hal smiled weakly. "Because as bad as Ollie has been with you, he and I are friends. He saw his best friend kissing his girl and he lost his cool. I have no defense. I can't help myself with you but I have to. I'm not going to do this to you. I honestly don't know that I'm any better than Ollie when it comes to being exclusive and you don't need that. Let me prove to myself and to you that I can control myself and you take as much time as you want to get over Ollie. That and I have to find a way to mend things with Ollie. He's been a very good friend. I can't betray him like this."

Dinah was calming down. She had always found Hal to be handsome and charming and she knew that many women in the League did. She was impressed with his attitude towards Ollie and her and she appreciated the fact that he was trying to look out for her emotional wellbeing. "Fine. You're right. We'll wait. But I do think that we should have an occasional kiss."

Hal smiled wickedly. "Yes, we most definitely should do that. It will help us remember what we want."

They shared one more short kiss before going their separate ways.

======G======

Zatanna sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee and munching on a waffle. She found both to be delicious. But then she had never tasted anything that Alfred made that she disliked. She felt extremely refreshed and confident. It was hard for her not to.

She had been instrumental in defeating an immortal witch and then had convinced Bruce to cut his nightly patrol short in order for the two of them to spend the remainder of the night together. She had seen his internal struggle. It was not easy for him to give anything or anyone priority over his city. But with Robin, Red Arrow, Atom Smasher, Wildcat and Damage still patrolling the city and Nightwing and Batgirl helping Superman in Metropolis he had given in.

Zatanna had made sure that he did not regret it. She smiled as she remembered that he had also made quite sure that she did not regret having made the suggestion. She wasn't certain but she believed that it was the first time she and Bruce had made love at night. Usually he was too busy swinging or driving or flying through the city at the hour when most couples in love were looking to do other things.

"You do seem to be in rather high spirits today Miss Zatanna. I am glad. I always knew that master Bruce is a good man. I hope he will never take you for granted and that you never regret being with him," Alfred said with a twinkle in his eye.

Zatanna smiled brightly, "Yes, Alfred. He's been very nice. We both know he can't pull his grumpy routine with me for long. He pretty much doesn't even try it on me anymore. You know it's nice to know that we can take on the worst that this universe has to offer and come out on top."

Alfred turned back to washing dishes. "I must say that I was always quite concerned with Master Bruce's activities until he joined the Justice League and made friends with the likes of Superman and J'onn and the Flash and you, of course."

Zatanna grunted, "Well, I've known him for a lot longer than anyone else in the league, but I know what you mean. You'd think that the baddies would have retired by now after running into the likes of Superman and Flash and J'onn. But I guess it gives them all something to do."

The front doorbell rang.

Alfred moved to answer but Zatanna stopped him. "I'll go, Alfred. I'm done with my breakfast and anyway, it might be an evil enemy that needs to be put in his place." Zatanna grinned as she got up from the table and made her way to front door.

Alfred heard Zatanna answer the door. Her voice sounded surprised but friendly. He heard another woman's voice. It sounded like a nice voice. He imagined an attractive woman on the other end. He kept tidying in the kitchen and whistling to himself. Twenty minutes later he realized that he could no longer hear the ladies talking.

Moving out of the kitchen and towards the front door, Alfred called out to Zatanna. There was no response. He assumed that she had perhaps gone up to her room to ready herself for the day. He was shocked when he found her sitting on the floor facing out the open front door.

"Miss Zatanna, are you alright?" Alfred asked as he approached her.

There was no response.

Alfred touched her shoulder and was startled when Zatanna shrank away from him and covered her head with her arms.

"Miss Zatanna. It's me. Alfred. Whatever is the matter?" he asked alarmed and concerned.

Alfred was horrified when Zatanna put her arms down. Her eyes were both a cloudy, sightless white, her lips were moving but no sound came from her mouth and it was apparent that she could hear nothing. She was holding her arms in close to her torso. Terror was written all over her face.

Alfred gained control of himself and clasped each of her hands gently and sat down next to her. He could tell that she recognized him and he saw some of the frantic terror dissipate.

"Miss Zatanna! Whatever has happened?" Alfred was horrified at her plight but felt helpless to do anything. He realized that she couldn't hear him and he could do nothing to remedy her situation. "I'm right here, Miss Zatanna. I will not leave you alone. I'm sure that Master Bruce or one of those wonderful people in that League of yours will be able to help and reverse this horrible curse."

Zatanna clutched his hands to her chest and just stared blindly past him as a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

======F======

The eight-foot, grey skinned, hugely muscled and horned beasts were not easily beaten. Superman was terribly bruised and battered and he wondered if he had bitten off a little more than he could chew when he selected the simulation program with three Doomsday monsters attacking him at once. He had one down but it had come between the fists of its brothers before it had fallen. Both creatures were stronger than him and moved with equal speed. His advantage was in flight, and fighting skill. His heat vision and super breath did nothing to stop the creatures.

Superman had never tried this program. He had been scared to do so. Having fought the real Doomsday and knowing the power of the creature and having met his temporary end at its hands he had not relished the idea of facing the monster again, let alone three at the same time. But he had not been thinking straight. The last several hours his mind had been clouded by little more than blind rage. He had just wanted to punch something with all of his might. He wanted to pulverize something with his bare hands.

He had figured that his rage made him invincible. Not even Doomsday would be able to withstand him. He had been wrong. At the same time his reckless choice had forced him to clear his mind of his burning rage and think tactically. There was no other way he would be able to defeat the creatures.

He had tried the 'charge and demolish' approach at the start and had been severely pummeled for his efforts. After his second berserker failure he had started thinking with cold and calculating precision and with military and underhanded strategy. Attacking again in his familiar berserker fashion he had at the last moment leaped straight into the air as the three monsters crashed into each other. Two of them pummeled the third into unconsciousness before they realized that there adversary was no longer in their grasp.

Superman swept down, grabbed one of the creatures by the head and flew up into the sky with him spinning at super speed. He spun until he felt the heat in the air around him then he let the monster go speeding into space. Locating the third monster he dropped down like a missile. The third creature was ready for him. Superman was backhanded viciously from the sky and the creature grasped his cape to yank him back for more bone wrenching punishment.

Superman felt his body shake from the bone jarring blow, but he rolled with it as best he could. As he felt himself being yanked back he twisted in midair so that he would return below the monsters arm. He hit the creature's left leg with both feet, wrapped his cape around the wrist of the hand that held it and twisted the monster into a wrist lock bringing it to its knees. He twisted until he heard the wrist snap. Then he broke one of the bony horns from the monsters shoulder and drove it through the creature's chest.

The monster threw him off as it stood. He could see it already healing but the chest wound was not closing quickly. With a disconcerting shout he skipped straight into the attacking monster spinning and kicking the monster in the chest and driving the bone further in. the creature slowed and Superman pressed his advantage.

Smashing his open palmed hands on either side of the creature's head he was satisfied to hear a howl of pain. He punched it in the throat as hard as he could and felt the soft tissues, soft for the creature, crush under his blow, grabbing a horn on either side of its head he yanked it with a vicious twist and gave a satisfied grunt when he heard it's bones snap. He let go of the dead monster as it crumbled to the ground and stood breathing heavily.

A robotic voice said, "Simulation successfully completed. Simulation over."

The desert night scene disappeared as the lights slowly came back on and the low intensity red sun energy lamps went out. The creatures were robots made with Kryptonian alloys and were indestructible so far to Superman's strength. He was glad he had picked the program. He had thought about what would happen if he had lost the fight. As he turned away to exit the room without his customary clean up, he realized that he was not alone.

He had been so focused on his rage and on the fight that he had missed them.

Two familiar and welcome heartbeats danced to his super hearing. The one belonged to his beloved cousin, Kara and the other to his best friend, Diana. He heard them just moments before he saw them. He looked up with an embarrassed smile and they both looked on in awed wonder.

"I'm sorry cuz. I didn't think you'd still be here. Diana told me what happened and that you'd come to blow off some steam but knowing you I figured you would have finished hours ago and left to be alone in the Himalaya's or something. That was freaky brutal. I'm glad you're not mad at me," Supergirl began.

"I'm sorry Kal. We both thought that you were no longer here and wanted to use the Fortress to plan you… to plan." Diana recovered quickly and somewhat shyly. "You have improved tremendously in your fighting skills and in the quickness of your executions. You seemed frightfully invincible, Kal. I would feel sorry for an enemy that dares to test you." Diana looked at him admiringly.

Kara took careful note of this and grinned. "Okay, little Cuz, you need to go now if you're all done. Us girls have important things to do and no men allowed."

"Kara, I don't want a birthday party. Diana. I told you I didn't want a birthday party," he said turning to Diana.

Diana smiled softly; it made his breath catch and his heart beat erratically. He tried to shake off the overwhelming feeling of desire he was suddenly feeling for her. It seemed that the closer he was to her the stronger the pull. It didn't help matters when she walked up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You are going to have a special birthday this year, Kal," she whispered into his ear.

Now Superman was looking down at Diana with unhidden hunger. He saw the same hunger in her eyes. It surprised him. She was always so in control and had never given him reason to think that he could take such liberties with her. He watched as she fidgeted with her lasso. He was about to pull her into a hungry kiss when they both heard a cough.

Diana stopped fidgeting with her lasso and felt her mind clear as she stepped back from Kal.

Superman also felt his mind clear as Diana stepped away from him. His animal desire was still quite strong but not uncontrollable.

Kara looked at them somewhat confused. "What is going on here? I thought you two were all about self-control. Did you both get hit with a bottle of Green Arrow mojo?"

Kara regretted her words instantly. She watched as her cousins stiffened and Diana's eyes seemed to clear almost instantly.

"I'm going to go fly around for a while. I think I'll go into space for a bit," Superman informed them grumpily and left in a blur.

Kara looked at Diana. "Is everything alright? You didn't seem yourself there for a minute. You know, I have always been in favor of you two getting together. I'm not sure what is wrong with Clark, or why in the world he decided he had to marry Lois when he could have dated and married you, but he did and you two are always so careful. So that, "I want to eat you up," thing you two had going there was just weird. That being said, I sometimes wonder if he's just a little bit retarded. Maybe he hit his head on some kryptonite on his way to earth as a baby or something. Because, I swear, some of his choices make no sense to me whatsoever."

Diana sighed and then giggled involuntarily, "I'm fine. I don't know what it is. I do feel strange sometimes but I feel fine right now. I'm sorry for my behavior. I will get myself checked out in the infirmary tonight. Let's continue planning Kal's birthday. And for the record, Kal is not retarded! Not even a little bit."

"Yes, he is. He has to be. If not as a baby then maybe from all of the blows to the head he's taken from the likes of Darkseid and Doomsday and Mongul and, well, you get the picture. Maybe he's suffering like an old boxer." Kara shot back with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Kal's mind is just fine, Kara." Diana replied with a laugh.

"Of course you think his mind is just fine, you just about kissed him! Your mind is obviously clouded by your feelings. I, on the other hand can see it very clearly. It's the only explanation. He's a little slow." Kara teased back.

"Kara, you are horrible," Diana giggled.

"Yeah, I have a reputation to uphold. But you know it's true. I'll bet if you call him your little retard, that he'll answer you." Kara snorted.

Diana laughed. She always had enjoyed Kara's company. She reminded her a bit of her sister with her playful teasing and joking. "Let's work on the details of the party and leave my "Little Retard" alone for awhile."

"Deal. Unless he comes back before we're done. Then all bets are off." Kara smiled wickedly.

Laughing, Kara and Diana went into the dining area of the Fortress to continue their planning.


	21. Chapter 21

The Birthday Present

Chapter 20

Ollie Knows Something Bruce Doesn't Know. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!

======S======

John and Kyle sped towards Rann. The planet was in trouble. Neither knew what posed the danger. If they had been asked, neither would have remembered how they had come by the information, but both knew it had been a very reliable source and both wished to see their friend, Adam Strange, once again.

As they entered the planetary system the urgency and focus of their mission suddenly vanished. They landed on Rann among friends. The people of Rann had great respect for the Lantern Corps. Adam Strange greeted them with concern. When he learned that they had come solely as friends and not to avert some sort of invasion or disaster he relaxed and insisted that they stay a few days. He prepared a couple of rooms for them in the palace and made sure that they were comfortable.

Adam, his family and those that were familiar with John and Kyle were somewhat surprised when they did not show up for the feast that had been prepared in their honor. It was discovered that both were fast asleep and so they were left alone for the remainder of the evening.

======S======

Superman stood on the moon staring off into the vast depths of space. He wasn't focusing on any given planet or star; he was just staring, lost in thought. The simulated battle with the Doomsday monsters had helped clear his mind a little. He was still angry and he didn't know what he wanted to do, but the logical part of him realized that Lois needed serious help. Not because she had slept with another man but because whatever kind of control or power the man named Max Lord had over her mind was still there. He also knew that Ollie had done nothing out of the ordinary for him; it was certainly not the first time he had slept with a married woman, but it didn't make it any less tolerable or unforgivable. He would just have to make sure that he stayed away from Ollie for a while.

Not wanting to think about Lois and Ollie anymore, Superman turned his attention to another problem; his behavior towards Diana. He was a bit concerned with his forwardness towards her especially at the Fortress and in front of Kara!

He would have to apologize to Diana and Kara for his behavior. It was disrespectful to both Diana and Lois and it was certainly not appropriate for him to behave that way in front of his cousin. And here he was fuming at Ollie.

Superman stayed on the moon for a few more hours, wrestling with his anger and confusion. He wanted to comfort Lois but at the same time he realized that something inside had died when he saw her with Ollie. It didn't matter that she had been under mind control. It just made it harder to deal with. His mind and emotions were beginning to head back into a state of turmoil when he remembered how Diana had intervened at just the right time and with just the right words.

Superman smiled softly to himself. Diana was truly wonderful and wise. Her council was always sound and it always seemed as if she could sense the turmoil or quandary one was in. She stepped in, speaking with compassion, patience and understanding. He knew that she had saved him more than she had saved Ollie and he was thankful for her intervention. She was a friend in every sense of the word.

Superman turned his attention and senses towards the Fortress. His Fortress defenses were such that he could not see or hear into the Fortress from the outside. It was a safety feature to guard against enemies with his same or similar abilities. But although he could not listen in or see what was going on physically, he had his com-link connected to Kee-lex and to several camera's and surveillance devices spread throughout the Fortress.

Superman grinned mischievously as he scanned the Fortress's surveillance equipment to see where Kara and Diana were. He found them in one of his living room areas. He listened in for a few minutes just for fun. He found himself grinning as he listened to their easy banter and at the obvious good time that they were having together and he never tired of hearing Diana's voice. He wanted to listen longer but made himself turn off his com-link. They deserved their privacy and he had heard enough to know they were planning his party.

Superman found that his spirits were slightly higher. He had exhausted his rage on the Doomsday simulation, and he had good friends and family. Many other people had lived through worse tragedies and he would not have to face his problems alone.

Superman floated up off of the moon and headed back to earth. He knew that he and Lois would survive this disaster, but he did not want to see her at the moment. It was still too painful and the memories of what he'd witnessed that morning would just come flooding back and fill him with a rage he could do little about. Instead of heading to the busy city and his apartment he headed south and west.

He hadn't seen his parents since returning from the mission on Themyscira. His parents, like Diana, were always full wisdom and he just wanted to see them and share what had happened. It would be good to spend the rest of the day with them. Putting on a burst of speed, he shot down through the atmosphere and headed for the farm that he still considered home.

======M======

Lois lay staring at the ceiling. She realized that she was awake but did not know how long she had been so. The last she remembered was speaking with Diana about Clark. She scrunched up her eyes as she tried to remember the conversation she and Diana had shared and sat up excited as it came back. Diana was going to help her get super powers or at least try. Of course if she couldn't then she could still hunt down the Green Arrow while Diana had Clark "occupied" with his birthday present.

Lois smiled happily.

Life was good.

She swung her feet off the bed and stood up quickly to head for the bathroom.

"So, the sleeping beauty is awake. What kind of story have you been working on? You had Wonder Woman here in your apartment! Wonder Woman!"

Lois stared, shocked, at her little sister, Lucy. She wasn't sure what to say at first but old wit and years of thinking on her feet finally kicked in. "She has taken an interest in the story Clark and I are doing on the new swingers club and the death of the young FBI agent that was investigating the owner of the club." She answered. She wondered how long she had been with her.

Lucy just shook her head in bewilderment. "I can't believe you just said that as if you were talking about the police taking interest in an investigation of yours, and you realize that Wonder Woman taking interest in a swinger's club story sounds sort of perverted. She just doesn't strike me as the swinging type, but then I'm not best friends with any super heroes so what would I know, right?"

"How long have you been here, Lucy?" Lois blurted out.

"A few hours. I showed up and found miss Wonder Woman sitting on your living room couch. Are you a target? Was she babysitting you? She asked me not to let you out of my sight and that she'd be back soon. There was something she needed to do and she wanted to give us some time alone, I guess. You know, so we could sister bond," Lucy grinned.

Lois smiled back at Lucy. She wondered if Diana was already busy trying to discover a way for her to take on super powers. "As soon as I'm out of the bathroom we'll bond. I promise," she said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

Lucy's smile froze. "Okay, that just sounded disgusting."

======F======

Diana and Kara were enjoying themselves immensely. They had not stopped laughing and giggling since they had started planning. Most of it was Kara's fault but she had been pleasantly surprised to find that Diana had a very good sense of humor. She figured it was from having a younger sister and from spending so much time around her "retarded" cousin.

"So you don't think that "pin the tail on the Batman" will go over real well?" Kara asked deadpan.

Diana couldn't help laughing out loud.

Kara continued on with a smirk as she gave her reasons. "I had thought of doing "pin the tail on the Flash or pin the tail on the J'onn, but nobody would be able to catch the Flash and J'onn would just go invisible. So naturally, Batman is the only good choice."

"Why is he the only good choice? There are a lot of other candidates available," Diana asked curious as to Kara's reasons.

"Cuz he's the most serious one there and can you imagine the look on his face when he see's everybody coming towards him with a tail to pin on him?" Kara giggled.

Both laughed for a bit then stopped and continued looking at the list of games and activities. Both still had grins plastered on their faces.

Diana looked up at Kara suddenly as a memory hit her. She hadn't thought of it since leaving the apartment and Lois in Lucy's care. That had worked out well since Kara had wanted to plan Kal's party with her. She looked at Kara for a moment and finally decided to tell her.

"Lois wants me to figure out a way to give her superpowers," she blurted.

Kara looked up in shock. "What? Superpowers? For what? Why?"

Diana was suddenly embarrassed to continue. "Um, so that she can be intimate with Clark. I am sorry. I should not have shared that with you."

Kara stared at her for a moment. "You're serious! Lois really wants you to do that? This is really serious! Well, we better get started looking for a vat of toxic waste!"

Diana looked at her confused. "Toxic waste? Why?"

Kara giggled, "You know how lots of heroes got their abilities from being thrown into radioactive or toxic waste?"

"I've never heard of that," Diana responded still confused.

Kara sighed, "Well, I guess it wasn't really a lot of heroes but there are a few and that was just a joke anyways. How much time do you have to find a way for her to get superpowers?"

Until Kal's birthday." Diana answered.

"That's less than a week! So, if you don't by then, what? She'll never speak to you again or something?" Kara asked.

Diana didn't say anything for a moment. Instead she fidgeted.

Kara looked on intrigued. "Something actually happens if you can't find a way for her to get superpowers by Clark's birthday?"

Diana's hand brushed against her lasso and her nervousness with the turn in conversation was suddenly gone. "She wants me to help her find a way to acquire superpowers or else she wants me to be Kal's birthday present." It came out a little too eagerly. Diana noticed it herself but by then she was no longer touching her lasso. The admission made her blush deeply.

Kara gazed at her searchingly for a moment more, and then she whistled. "You aren't joking at all! Does Kal know about this? Is that why you two almost made out earlier?"

Diana shook her head. "No. Kal know's nothing of this request. I know that I cannot accept but if I cannot find a way for her and if I refuse then she will offer Powergirl and Maxima the opportunity to be his birthday present."

Kara almost laughed at the way Diana said it. It was like she was justifying in her own mind why she might have to accept Lois's proposal. "Well, you do have almost a week, so I wouldn't worry too much. I think everything will work out well for everyone."

Diana hoped so, but she couldn't imagine a scenario where everything would work out for everyone.

======M======

Batman and Nightwing had found him.

They sat in the Batwing, discreetly observing the cabin in the hills outside of Metropolis where Lord had hidden himself.

They were discussing plans for going in after him and how best to go about it when they were interrupted by a call from Alfred.

Batman and Nightwing both paled at the news of Zatanna.

"I know that you're going to say that taking this guy out has got to be top priority but we know where he is and that he has nowhere to run. Let's go take care of Zee. Then we'll come back for this loser." Nightwing offered.

Batman stared blankly into space for a moment then shook his head, "No. We take Lord out then go home. We cannot leave him free."

"Fine. Then we call somebody in that can resist mind control and that can take him or babysit him for you. But we, you, need to get home," Nightwing argued. He could see the turmoil on the visible part of Bruce's face.

"Who can we ask? Who can resist mind control that we could trust with watching this scum?" Bruce was willing to entertain the thought but not at the expense of losing another member of the league for his personal problems.

Nightwing smiled to himself, "My best buddy, Wally."

"No."

"What do you mean, no! Wally can resist mind control. The toughest mind controllers out there haven't been able to control him for more than a microsecond! His mind and brain move just as fast as the rest of him! He'll be happy to help out and he can be trusted. He's more than earned our, your trust. Zee needs you. If it will make you feel better, I'll stay behind and wait for Wally. You go back home and figure out what's wrong with Zee," Nightwing argued convincingly.

Batman was silent for a moment. He was about to speak when Nightwing interrupted him.

"You've got good options here, Bruce. Don't be a jerk to Zee. There's no need."

"Jump out. I'll head back. And for the record, you didn't have to throw in the jerk comment. I'm leaving. Call Wally and make sure that Batgirl knows what's going on at all times." Batman replied drily.

Nightwing would have grinned if there hadn't been bad news about Zatanna. "Sorry, had to pull out all my guns to make sure."

Nightwing jumped out of his chair and dropped out of the lower hatch by the cable since they were only a few stories above the ground.

Batman waited until the cable was back up and he heard Nightwing's all clear before he sped home.

======SC======

Michael and Oliver stood just inside of Ollie's penthouse at the top of the Queen's Tower in Star City.

"You're sure you're going to be alright?" Michael was a little bit worried about Ollie. He had not been acting very normal. Even for him.

Ollie smiled, "Of course I will. I just need a good meal, a good nap, some sweet dreams and tonight, some good hunting. I'll be good as new."

Michael was surprised and impressed that Ollie hadn't added getting laid in his list of needs, but then he had mentioned needing a good meal and coming from Ollie he figured it could go either way or even mean both. "Okay, I'm going to head back. You need anything, make sure you let me know. Your communicator still works, so you can reach us if you need us at any time. Your teleporter doesn't work from your end but if you need to be somewhere fast just let me know and we can still teleport you wherever you need to go."

The two clasped hands, separated, and Michael teleported back to the Satellite.

Ollie stood staring at the empty space where Michael had been a moment ago. He suddenly felt the weight of the consequences settle heavily on his shoulders. He was alone. He knew that if he wanted he could have a lovely girl or two in his bed in moments but he didn't want that kind of company right now. He didn't even want to talk to or see Roy. He toyed with the thought of calling Kator and having him drop by. He had always enjoyed arguing with him and eyeing Shayera but he didn't feel like seeing the space warrior at the moment.

Even if Kator didn't say anything, just the simple fact that the man only had eyes for his wife would feel like he was getting his actions rubbed in his face. So Ollie decided to just lie down for a nap. His body was exhausted not from the sex so much as from stress and anxiety of almost getting maimed or worse at the hands of Superman, of being let go from the League and from seeing Hal and Dinah kissing. He realized he was truly all alone now. He would decide what he would do later. At the moment he just wanted to sleep.

Sleep came easy for Ollie. His head hadn't much more than hit his pillow and he was out, but his sleep was restless. And he was plagued with pleasant and erotic dreams only to have them turn into dreams of pain. He went from having wild sex with a lovely and loud, dark haired woman to running with all his might from an angry, large man with smoking red eyes.

The scenario continued to repeat itself over and over until finally he was captured by the angry large man. Ollie was sure that he lost control of his bodily functions just before the man killed him.

But he didn't die.

He opened his eyes to face his judge and found that he was staring into the face of the most beautiful woman in the universe. They were alone and safe and he wondered why they were not making out. It was the logical thing to do when alone with a beautiful woman. He realized that he was tied up and that his lovely companion was the one who had him tied up. Maybe things were just getting started.

He was disappointed when she left the room but another lovely lady soon joined him. She looked so familiar, but he felt a deep fear at the same time. He could feel her touching his mind and he fought the invasion like he had been trained. It was no use.

She was talking to him and he couldn't respond he felt the rope that he had been tied with leave his body and then he was again secured tightly with a rope. He opened his eyes just long enough to see the delicious back side of the lovely woman leave the room. She held a golden lariat in one of her hands and he was tied up with a golden lariat.

Ollie found this to be amusing and interesting. He had only ever heard of one such lariat and now there were two. It was something he needed to file away and he also felt the urge to tell somebody. He needed to tell somebody. With a mischievous grin he reached for his communicator and contacted his friend, Batman. He figured that he might already know but in the off chance that he didn't he wanted to be the one that told him. It would certainly prove that he knew something that Batman didn't.

There was no answer at the other end. Ollie wasn't put out at all. He just punched in the code to leave a message. "Hey, Brucie, Baby! Got some juicy info for you! "You do realize that there are two of those wonderful lariats, right? Yes. Now we have to tell the truth twice as much! But don't worry, buddy. I'm working on way counteract this atrocity. I think I'll develop a lie arrow or maybe a truth negating gas. Of course it also means that the chances of getting tied up in a lariat have just doubled. Yep. Two lariat's. Dos. Deaux. Ni. I was tied up in both. I didn't end up getting any but that's because I was on a tight schedule. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind me working on their tight schedules! HaHaHa! Well, I better let you go. You know how it is, it's not the first time I've been tied up and it certainly won't be the last. And you just never know when a dark haired or red haired beauty is going to walk through your door and insist on tying you up for a good time."

Ollie woke up sweating. The dreams were still quite vivid and he remembered everything. "Maxima has a lariat as well! I wonder why she didn't have sex with me when she had the chance. She was so close!"

He got up and paced the length of his expansive room several times. He was deep in thought. Something didn't make sense. He was no detective but he'd been around Bruce enough to know that no detail was unimportant. Something about what had happened was wrong. Checking his communicator, he saw that he had indeed called Bruce with his information about the two lariats. He breathed a sigh of relief. Bruce now had his information. That meant that the mystery of the two sexy ladies with magic lassos would soon be solved!

As he made his way to the shower he toyed with the idea of adding a rope or two to his amorous adventures.

15


	22. Chapter 22

The Birthday Present

Chapter 21

Yeah This Witch Be Real Nathty

JLA Satellite

Hal sat on the edge of his bed. He wasn't one to struggle too much when it came to women, but he was struggling right now. He didn't know how to move forward. He knew what he wanted, but he wasn't sure if it would work. He wanted Dinah with all of his being and at the same time he didn't want to lose his friend.

He found that he felt like a million dollars just knowing that Dinah felt the same way about him but he felt like a heel when he thought about Ollie. It didn't matter to him that Ollie had been the one to wreck the relationship. That wasn't good but he didn't think it gave him the right to step in and pick up with Dinah.

Hal wanted to talk to someone about it but the ones he wanted to talk to were not available.

Ollie was out of the question.

Barry was gone. He'd been gone for a few years now.

Supes seemed to be extremely busy. Hal hadn't heard from him since they had returned from Themyscira.

Bats seemed really busy as well; course he was always busy tracking someone or something down and planning, planning, planning, training, training, training…

He had no idea where J'onn was, and neither John nor Kyle answered their com-links.

Diana came to mind for a moment, but Hal dismissed it as too awkward.

He briefly wondered if something odd was going on, but he dismissed that thought as well. There was no reason to be paranoid. Everything would be fine. It would all work out.

A light bulb finally went off in his head. He would speak with Maxima! She had sparred with him earlier. He was sure she had been in such situations before. Maybe not, but sometimes just talking to a beautiful, serious, blunt, haughty, scantily clad, warrior princess was all a man needed to come to a reasonable decision.

======B======

Metropolis to Gotham

Batman sped his silent jet back towards Gotham. It only took him minutes from Metropolis. He felt panicked and angry, both for the same reason. He had not seen this coming. He was now dealing with the unexpected.

Something more was going on than just a mind-manipulating pervert running around free. Batman found that he couldn't bring himself to classify Max Lord with villains who gave the whole League a hard time, but the man was doing it anyway.

But this? This was something else entirely. He knew it instinctively. Someone much more powerful than Max, had attacked and, according to Alfred, it was a woman. Zee had not considered the woman a threat, but more likely a friend. That truly frightened Bruce. A woman that Zee would consider a friend had attacked her and that meant betrayal.

Bruce heard his communicator going off and was about to answer when he noticed that it was Ollie. Bruce grunted in annoyance. Ollie was probably calling for one of four things. To plan a double date, to ask him to put a good word in with Dinah for him, to boast about Lois as he loved detailing his conquests and pointing out that he'd had more women than there were members in the League, or he was calling to see if Bruce could do anything about him getting his spot back on the roster. Of course it was possible that Ollie just wanted to talk and about none of the above. They had been friends for a long time, but Bruce was too angry with his friend and too scared for Zee at the moment, so he didn't answer.

As he drew closer to home the soft continuous beep told him that Ollie had left a message. Bruce brought his jet down to the water, submerged and then continued through one of several underwater tunnels and up into his extensive cave. He listened to the recording as he hopped out. Ollie seemed to be talking sex and nonsense. The sex talk was normal. He liked to brag and plan and joke about that all the time. But Ollie rarely spoke nonsense. Bruce heard something about a dark haired beauty and a red haired beauty then something about two lariats. Nonsense. Pure nonsense.

Batman was heading for the stairs up to the mansion when he suddenly became aware of another's presence.

"Hello, Batman."

Batman looked up to see Maxima floating just above him. She was always a vision of loveliness, but at the moment all he could sense was danger. Batman's stomach twisted into a knot. He knew right away, from the look in her eyes that she was the traitor but he couldn't understand why.

"Maxima? What are you doing here? Alfred called you?" he asked. He knew that Maxima didn't know his identity let alone who Alfred was, yet here she was with danger written all over her beautiful face.

"No, no, Batman. You are so amusing I never left." Maxima laughed. It was musical and chilling and while it was Maxima's voice it did not sound like Maxima. Maxima didn't laugh like that. She wasn't bubbly. She was all warrior princess and all about conquering Superman.

"Red haired beauty." The memory of Ollie's words chilled Batman to the bone.

Batman stopped. He had to be sure. "I'm in a hurry Maxima. Someone attacked Zee. I need to get to her."

Maxima responded with the same chilling laugh. This was definitely not Maxima. This was someone else. "I wouldn't call it an attack, more like an improvement."

Batman was rapidly putting the pieces together and at the same time trying to figure out a way to either escape or stop her. He knew she was here for him. She had taken out Zee. She had done something to Ollie and maybe even Diana from the lariat comment Ollie had made and now she was here for him. He wondered if she had already attacked or neutralized any of the others.

Maxima floated down towards him. Her beautiful figure filled his vision. Her sheer green skirt and her golden armor did nothing but accentuate her lovely curves. Her bare arms and legs were very desirable and unwittingly made his mouth water.

She was in front of him now, still floating so she could look him in the eyes. His eyes roamed upwards from her cleavage to her face and her lovely, captivating green eyes. No. They weren't green. They were violet. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for Bruce now. He was riveted, but when he saw that her eyes were violet he suddenly knew. By then it was too late. He could no longer move.

"Witch," he hissed as he realized the horrible truth.

Circe smiled sweetly. "You are certainly a very gifted detective, Batman. You are to be commended. And now I'm sure you know why, but you are probably curious as to what will become of you. I'll tell you that I have been debating this. I could, of course, kill you. But I'm not in the killing mood right now. I also thought of turning you into a pig, but I've already done that and I don't have any pets handy to feed you to. I think that I will just do to you as I have done to your little live in magician whore. Make a few improvements."

Bruce was sweating from the effort to take back control of his body. He hated being helpless. He couldn't move his limbs or his eyes. He could barely talk and she wasn't letting him activate his communicator to ask for help. He knew it was magic and he knew he was at her mercy. He couldn't warn anyone. He needed her to become careless, to let down her guard for just a moment.

Circe continued to stare at him but in a more thoughtful manner. "You know, there is no need for you to keep struggling. You are going to exhaust yourself for no reason. Relax you will not die today. I'm not even going to hurt you. I'm just going to improve you."

Batman felt Circe relax her control over him and he tried to move his hand up to his communicator. Circe was too fast for him. He found himself again frozen in place as she slowly phased his communicator from his ear and through his cowl.

She looked at him with mock pity and began speaking to him in a baby voice. "Was Batman going to call his fwiend, Supaman? Evewyone wants to call him when they'we in twouble and you awe definitely in twouble, Batman. But I just can't let you call him. I have other plans for him." Her voice slowly became serious once again and with a wave of her hand the earpiece turned to dust.

If Batman could have kicked himself he would have. Circe had promised to come back after her defeat and none had expected such a sudden return. Bruce was sweating now from exertion. More than losing control of his body, Bruce feared losing control of his mind. He had no idea what the witch had in mind but he knew it would not be good. He did not have long to wait to find out. She was studying him closely and she finally seemed to come to a decision.

Maxima moved in close and settled down in front of him. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered softly into his ear, "I need you to take off your mask so that I can improve you properly. Could you take off your mask for me?"

Batman's hands began to slowly move up to his face. There was a grimace on his face as he struggled with all his might to resist the witches control over him. He lost. His hands finally reached his cowl and within seconds he was without his mask.

Circe stepped back and clapped. "Ah, what a beautiful face! Don't worry too much, Brucie. I already knew who you were before I asked you to take off your mask. You must have realized that, I'm sure. Yes, your face is very nice but there is something missing."

Circe looked thoughtful for a moment, then she smiled and snapped her fingers. "I have it. You look so intense and serious! You have seen too much tragedy in your life and you are so young and only human. You aren't going to be around for very long compared to someone like me or your Kryptonian friends or the Amazons, even J'onn or the Hawks will all outlive you by several centuries. Yes, you definitely need a little more mirth."

Circe walked around him staring at him mockingly as she continued. "So I will gift you with laughter. You will laugh much and often. You will laugh until you fall from exhaustion. You will laugh at the misfortunes of your friends and you will laugh uncontrollably when you try to take on any type of investigative work. In addition to your laughter I also gift you with a poor memory, from now on you will struggle to remember what you had for breakfast and you will have no memory me. You will have no memory of this moment and you will not warn your friends."

The witch took on a look of pity, "I know this seems cruel to you but I cannot have you warning my next victims, now can I?"

Circe stopped circling and began trailing sensual circles from Bruce's neck down his chest. She looked up into his eyes and smiled again. This time the smile was not sweet. In was the smile of triumph. Bruce trembled with rage at his impotence. He could not defend himself and worse he was helpless to warn his friends. He hoped that Clark and Diana would put the pieces together. Nightwing was not aware of her presence but Wally had been on Themyscira. Bruce hoped that he would be able to figure out what was going on before it was too late.

The witch was saying some kind of spell. The words were unintelligible but they made his hairs stand up. His body trembled and shook for a moment and then with a groan he felt his body sag.

The witch was not yet done. "You don't seem at all pleased with my improvements. They haven't taken full effect yet but they will soon. Allow me to leave you with a parting gift. I believe this will lift your spirits and fill you with appreciation for what has transpired here."

She brought his face down to hers and planted a long, deep and poisonously magic kiss. She held it for quite a long time then finally broke it. She backed away looking Bruce in the eyes.

"Your new life starts now, Batman. Did you know that your girlfriend can't see, hear or speak. How does that make you feel?" Circe stepped back from Batman, lazily waved her hand in the air saying another spell and watched with satisfaction he suddenly fell to the floor, his body convulsing.

Bruce didn't notice when the witch disappeared. His friends were all in danger. Clark and Diana were about to become the victims of one of the most dangerous beings on the planet and his Zatanna had been made blind deaf and dumb.

He repeated the thought in his mind over and over. He knew he could overcome the witches spell if he just focused. He was crawling and sweating as he fought keep control of his mind.

He was halfway up the stone stairway when he found himself wondering why he was crawling. He found it extremely amusing he thought about standing up but decided he would continue to crawl like an animal. That way he could use all four of his limbs. As he continued up the stone stairways he wondered if Alfred ever crawled around the mansion when he was alone. He began laughing hysterically.

======M======

Diana flew back towards Metropolis. She took her time, flying slowly, thinking about her recent behavior and conversation with Lois. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became. She knew that something was wrong. Her forwardness with Kal was not normal behavior for her. Nor was Kal's forwardness with her. Only Lois's behavior made any sense. She had been mind controlled. She and Kal had not.

It was dark when she landed on Kal's balcony. She could see that Lois and her sister had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV. Diana was trying to decide whether or not she should leave them alone, but she finally opted to stay, reminding herself that she had promised to keep watch over Lois.

Her communicator came to life.

"Diana?" It was Maxima's voice. One of two women she did not want to speak with at the moment.

"Yes, Maxima. I am here. What is the trouble?" she asked keeping her voice neutral.

"I am in Metropolis. I have been looking for Superman," Diana felt her anger rising, "But could not contact him. Could you meet with me in Metropolis Central Park?"

Diana sighed. Maxima must have something legitimate to discuss or some genuine problem to ask to meet with her. They were cordial and respectful to one another, but there had always been underlying tension between them. Until now, Diana would have never agreed that it was because of Kal, but she realized that it was because of him today.

"I will meet you there in five minutes," she conceded.

Diana floated up into the air once more. Looking into the patio window at the slumbering sisters, she whispered a promise. "I will return."

She rose then, gaining speed as the gift of Hermes slowly surrounded her and she became invisible to the human eye and headed towards the park and Maxima.

======M======

Nightwing kept his eyes on the cabin and his quarry. He wanted to move in closer and bug the place, but he couldn't risk discovery, however unlikely, by the pervert inside. He was not worried about being mind controlled. That was something he could resist. He wasn't even worried about a physical confrontation. The man was not the best trained fighter. He wanted more information. Batman and he were almost certain that they would find something more going on or at least gather information on the criminals creating the drug 'Easy'.

So Nightwing aimed his directional microphone at the older man's cabin window. So far, Max had not made any phone calls.

He would wait for Wally for the bugging. Wally could zip in and out multiple times without fear of discovery and in plain sight.

"What up, Dawg?"

Nightwing grinned, "Hi, Speedy Gonzalez. What took you so long?"

"You gotta stop calling me that. I'm not Mexican and I'm not a rat," Wally complained.

Nightwing kept his focus on the cabin. "Really? Because your red hair and fair complexion just scream Mexican to me and for your information, he was a mouse, not a rat."

"See, that's worse. Mice are pretty helpless. At least a rat is kinda scary. I took longer than expected because I was trying to figure out how to ask Donna to be my date for Big Blues birthday party. So what's going on?" Wally asked.

Dick looked at his best friend in amusement. "She's already going to be there, Wal. You don't need to ask her to come to that."

"Oh, see! I'm no good at this! I don't have the whole suave, make them melt and eat out of my hand thing going like you and Roy do. She's never going to say yes to a date with an idiot!" Wally whined.

Nightwing chuckled, "From what I hear, she's the one that gave you a kiss on the cheek."

Wally brightened visibly at the memory. "Hey, that's right! She did!"

Nightwing smiled, "Just be yourself. Talk to her at the party and ask her out on a date. She obviously already likes you."

Wally became excited. A little too excited.

"Um, Wally? You're making everything vibrate out here and we need to keep tabs on this Max Lord guy." Nightwing went ahead and told him the whole story.

Wally whistled, "Wow! This guy is some serious bad news! Why don't we just take him down? Why wait around here?"

"Because there aren't many safe places to lock him up and because Bats wants to find out who else is working with him or for him. So we need to be patient." Nightwing explained.

"Okay, makes sense. I'll be right back." Wally blurred away and bugged the whole cabin for Nightwing. When he was done he sat next to Nightwing. He seemed quite restlesss.

Finally Wally couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Hey, Dick?"

"Yes?" Nightwing responded as he listened for anything from the inside.

"Wanna see me run around the world three times?" Wally asked hopefully.

"Sure." Nightwing answered.

"Cool! Wanna see me do it again?"

14


	23. Chapter 23

The Birthday Present

Chapter 22

Well, I Guess Circe's Not So Bad. I Mean, She Did Give Diana Permission To Do The Horizontal Lambada With Supes.

======Smallville======

Clark and his parents sat on the front porch. His mom and dad were on the swing, he was sitting on the rail facing them. He had just finished telling them all that had happened since he returned from Themyscira. They all sat quiet for a moment as his parents digested the shocking information and Clark relived it anew.

After some thought Jonathon spoke up. "Son, I don't think I can tell you to do anything that you haven't already considered and neither your mother nor I have ever been in a situation like that."

Clark looked at his father and smiled. "I know, Dad. And I know that I have to work this out with Lois since she was the victim here. It isn't, 'knowing,' what I should do, that's the problem, it's my anger. I know that I should work things out with Lois. She isn't to blame for being mind controlled. But I saw her in bed with another man and that just fills me with rage. I know that Ollie was just being himself and that he had no idea that she was my wife. But the simple fact is that he slept with my wife and I want hurt him for touching her. I don't know if I would have controlled myself when I had him at my mercy. But Diana showed up and helped me get under control and focus on helping Lois and ignoring Ollie. I want to find and hurt the man that mind controlled Lois, but Bruce and Diana asked me to let them handle him. They're good friends. I appreciate that they're looking out for me but it doesn't take away my desire for revenge. I really want to hurt the man in a way that I don't think I've ever wanted to hurt someone before."

Martha spoke up. "We've always been proud of how kind and compassionate you are. You have made it a habit to put others before yourself. I think that very noble in such a young and powerful man and it is even more amazing knowing that the man is my son. It scares me to know that you are feeling so angry, but I understand why. I too am glad that your friends are looking out for you. While neither your father nor I were thrilled with you choosing Lois for a wife, I am glad that you realize that this isn't her fault and I hope that you will not blame her or mistreat her because of what happened. You did take vows and right now this is a very 'for worse' situation. Aren't there any nasty villains you can fight with that you won't kill if you punch them with all your strength?"

Clark was taken aback by his mother's question. "Um, yes. Maybe a handful. Not very many actually. Why?"

"Well, couldn't you find one of them and release all of your pent up anger on them? It would probably be very therapeutic for you and I'm sure whatever villain you pick to punch will deserve it anyways," Martha concluded her train of thought.

Clark was very quiet for a moment. Then both he and Jonathon burst out laughing.

Clark finally got himself under control enough to respond to his mother. "That is a great idea, Mom." He wheezed. "I think I'll go see what Bizarro is up to. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me throwing some punches his way! I thought you were going to tell me to have some tea and give me some cookies and tell me to be nice to everybody." Clark was snorting and wheezing now at the thought of going to find somebody as strong as himself to punch just to relieve himself of his excess stress and anger and on his mother's orders no less.

Clark and Jonathon continued laughing for a few minutes. When they finally stopped and wiped the tears from their eyes they found that Martha was staring daggers at them. "So now, you have a sense of humor? You came here all mopey and saying how angry you are. You are Superman. You cannot just punch something when you're angry. So I made a suggestion for you. I'm sorry if it seemed too silly to you two. Maybe I should just go inside and let you two geniuses figure this out." Martha stood up to go.

Clark and Jonathon both shot to their feet. Their laughing was instantly replaced with apologies.

"Honey. No one wants you to leave. We were just laughing at the way you said it, not the idea." Jonathon explained rather lamely.

"Mom! Don't go! I needed that laugh. That was hilarious but not a bad idea. I'm just surprised you said it! I promise you I'm not gonna hurt anybody just because I'm angry. I know a lot of people go through worse situations, well, minus the mind controlling bit, but you know what I'm talking about. Please, don't be mad," Clark pleaded.

Martha looked back and forth from her husband to her son. The two of them were wearing sad puppy faces and begging her to stay. It was amazing how the two big men had no trouble whatsoever groveling for her. Her anger was forgotten in that moment and it was her turn to laugh at both herself and at the two most precious people in her life. She allowed Jonathon to pull her back down onto the swing and watched amused as both Jonathon and Clark sat back down with a relieved sigh. It was amazing what big babies the two could be sometimes.

Turning to Clark she said, "You make sure you don't hurt anybody, at least not anybody that deserves it. So who is with Lois now?"

"Either Lucy or Diana or both," Clark answered.

"Well, you make sure that whatever Diana tells you, you do. She has never given you bad advice and it sounds like she saved you from doing something you would have regretted your whole life," Martha advised.

Clark smiled, both of his parents had scolded him countless times for not pursuing Diana and had seemed bewildered when he told them that he was going to be marrying Lois. He had unwittingly heard parts of conversations they had about him maybe being a little slow. Sure he was more than genius level intellect but that was because of his genetics and because of the yellow sun, but they wondered if maybe back home he would have been special education material. They couldn't imagine why he had chosen an obnoxious, rude, bossy woman who had taken forever to acknowledge that Clark existed over one who had treated him as a cherished equal from the start and who was caring and sensitive.

Clark had actually worried about what he had heard. What if he was a Kryptonian retard. What if back on Krypton he would have been considered a half-wit. He pictured his mother Lara putting a helmet on him and sending him to school. Kara hadn't helped any. In the end he had actually asked Jor-El if it was possible. He had been relieved to find that he was perfectly normal, but unfortunately for him, Kara had stumbled upon the recording of his conversation with Jor-El just a few days later. She had not been looking for the information; she had just been browsing and stumbled across the keywords, 'slow, half-wit and special' and being intrigued she had pulled up the data.

Needless to say the teasing and torturing had continued for another month. "If you have to ask then chances are it's true, Clark," had been Kara's favorite line. She had also blackmailed him for the next several weeks with releasing the information to the League and the media.

Clark had finally freed himself when he discovered that Kara had a list of Justice League, Justice Society and Titan men that she was considering for future dates. He had realized right away that she had no idea who some of the men were. She had only heard some of the names. There was no other explanation for Plastic Man being on the list. He had taken her aside and let her know that if she ever threatened him with releasing his 'special' conversation with Jor-El that he would show Plastic Man a copy of her 'special' dating list.

Kara had never again brought it up.

Clark smiled smugly at the memory. Getting Kara back had hardly been the work of a half-wit. Turning to his mother he smiled warmly. "I will, Mom. I know she did and she is always right. I know I made a mistake, but it's too late now. What's done is done. I have to live with my decisions."

"Good. I'm glad that you are talking like a man who has a little sense now. Let's go inside. It's getting late and I know you're going to want to have some cake before you go to bed. I wish you would eat better back in that city. You look a little thinner than normal. Probably don't eat much because you are so busy saving everybody and going on all of these space missions. I'm sure the food you eat in space doesn't have all of the nutrients that you need for your physiology. You need to pay attention to that," Martha scolded as they walked into the house.

"The boy's shoulders touch the door frame, Martha! And almost anything he wears he looks like he's gonna bust out of it! What is this thin business?" Jonathon pointed out the obvious.

"I know he's big and I didn't say he was thin. I said he looked thinner. Pay attention to what people say and pay attention to your son. His body tells me much of what I need to know most of the time," Martha shot back.

Clark grinned at his dad from behind his mother's back. "She's right, Dad. Sometimes I don't take time to eat like I do when I'm here and half of the space food I've eaten isn't all that great. Don't think I'll ever go back to Jupiter or Pluto! And on Uranus the food just plain stinks!"

The two burst out laughing once again.

======Maxima======

Maxima had freed herself from her chains only to find herself trapped in her cell. For all of her incredible strength, she could not budge the door. She was desperate. She had to get away and at least warn the others. She knew that Circe had some evil plan of revenge on both Diana and Kal-El and most likely the rest of the League. What was worse she was using her own body to hurt her friends. She and Diana would probably never be the best of friends but she had grown to respect her immensely even if she considered her a rival for Kal-El's affections.

She was pounding on the cell door when she was suddenly thrown across the room into the far wall. She shot to her feet to find herself facing the witch. She was smiling at her gloatingly. Maxima launched herself at her captor and found herself suspended in the air and frustratingly helpless to fight.

"You are so feisty, Princess. You must see that you cannot win. I now control your body. You still live in this special place because I wish it. I will let you see what I have planned for your friends. You will see me humiliate the Amazon princess and you will be my instrument. You should thank me. You will have your Kryptonian before I finish you. Now I want you to be silent. I have work to do. Your competition is coming to see you. she is now more than ready listen to me." Circe disappeared with cackle still echoing in the dank cell.

Maxima tried to rush the door again but found she was once again chained and this time she was gagged as well.

======Circe======

Sitting in Metropolis Central Park was very entertaining for Circe. She had cast a spell of invisibility so that she could observe the people without being noticed. She was quite pleased with herself. Most of those that had been involved in her defeat had been dealt with. There were still more to deal with but she could take care of them later. Now she wanted to focus on the princess and the Kryptonian.

Men were always the easiest to deal with as far as mind control and spells were concerned but she could deal with woman as well. They were just a little more work. The princess was quite resistant to mind control and having a supernatural origin she was somewhat resistant to magic as well but not immune as was evident from how she had captured and defeated her in the past. Now the princess did not have her lariat of truth. She had spent a whole day using the lariat she had substituted. Circe referred to it as the lariat of lust. She knew that as strong as Diana was mentally, she would, by this point, be madly craving sexual satisfaction from her married friend.

From Green Arrow's mind she had seen what had happened with Superman's wife. It was perfect. She had also found that Batman knew the whereabouts of the man responsible for Superman's current mental state. She would have to pay him a visit. He would have to be congratulated and eliminated. She did not need competition from anyone, much less a man. Still the man might prove useful. She would have to think about it later after she had exacted revenge on her primary targets.

A movement caused Circe to look up. A smile crossed her face. Diana was floating down towards her. She found it nauseating that the goddesses had gifted her with the beauty, strength and wisdom that should have been given to her. She was more ancient and had always been a friend to the gods. But it did not matter. The princess could keep her beauty and her wisdom and her strength. Her mind was now quite malleable and she would enjoy seeing the shame in her eyes. Once she had satisfied her desire to see the princess suffer she would take her life. Perhaps she would be able to persuade the Kryptonian to kill her after he had used her. It would be poetic. The man she loved and surrendered to turning on her like the hero that had betrayed her own mother. The gods would not be able to punish her. They would have to judge the Kryptonian. Circe smiled. It was perfect.

======Diana======

Diana dropped down towards the park. She let the gift of Hermes slowly close around her and disappear as she touched down, making her visible to the naked eye. The park was fairly quiet. There were still people but it was not teeming. None were too close that they had noticed her. She looked around, her senses alert trying to pick up danger. There was nothing. Finally she saw Maxima. She was sitting on a bench not far from her. Diana assumed she had just arrived at super speed.

Diana moved over to her and greeted her respectfully as a sister warrior. It bothered her that Maxima could be so haughty and that she seemed to only be interested in Superman and that Lois had mentioned asking her to be Superman's sex gift, but she felt for her as well. She had been powerful and a good ruler of her people and now her home had been destroyed. Diana promised herself to not lose her temper and to be understanding as best she could.

She was standing next to Maxima now. She could tell that something was wrong. Maxima did not seem to be her normal self. Diana reached out a comforting hand and touched her shoulder. She instantly felt a powerful mental attack. It was an ability that Maxima possessed; to fire off telekinetic bursts of energy but there was something different about this. Diana staggered back reaching automatically for her lasso. When she touched it she was suddenly paralyzed. She saw Maxima take hold of her and slowly sit her down on the bench. Then she wrapped her lasso around her several times.

She saw Maxima's lips move but it was not Maxima's voice that came out. The voice of her dreaded enemy sent a chill through her body. She could not understand why she was helpless to act. She was bound but not at the wrists and not by a man. How could her own lasso work against her? Why did she suddenly feel so docile?

"Sweet, caring, Princess Diana. I am so glad you could come. You do not know how much this means to me. But I'm sure that you will before this is all over. I know you must be a little confused right now. Normally I have to put much more effort and power into my attacks to cause you any amount of pain or damage, but I do not want to damage you as of yet. That will come later. Right now I just want to humiliate you and the Kryptonian. And I can't think of a better way than for you to do it willingly to yourself." Circe gloated down at her.

Diana's voice sounded as weak as her will at the moment but she was fighting with everything she had to resist her enemy. "What have you done to Kal?"

Circe laughed. "Always so selfless and thinking of others first. Do not worry, sweet princess. I have done nothing to your Kryptonian yet. In fact, I believe that when it is all said and done I am going to let him live. It's not what I'm going to do to him that you should be concerned about. It's what he is going to do to you when this all over. But I suppose it's best if I don't tell you. I'll just let you find out on your own," Circe hissed triumphantly.

"Now let's focus on the more pleasant aspects of my plan." Circe was holding the lariat with both hands. She let go with her left and touched Diana forehead, closing her eyes as she did.

Diana felt her mind being violated but was helpless to stop. She tried every technique and trick she knew to block out psychic attacks but found that she couldn't hold them in place. Her will was not strong enough. In the end she passed out from exhaustion.

Circe finally let go. She was shocked at how easy everything was going to be. "So you already are contemplating offering yourself to the Kryptonian for his birthday! That is excellent! You will do it! And he will of course accept! I will see to that. It will be everything you ever dreamed it would be. I will even give you more than one day alone with him, but in the end you will see why men are so often called pigs. Of course you will have no objections to any of his ideas or requests or demands. You will be his willing slave. You, the princess of the immortal Amazons, the champion of the gods, the ambassador of peace, the one who seeks to reach out to and free all women from bondage. You will be a willing slave. The lasso has burned this one desire and drive into your very soul. You will forget we have spoken. You will go back and nurse you lover's wife and in a few days time you will give yourself to him. You will initiate the encounter. Make sure that you enjoy yourself. Like all things in this life the joy that you have will be fleeting. You will only remember me when I wish you to. You will come back to your senses once you have returned to the home of your future lover and will not remember this encounter. But know this, Princess. You have not many more days to live and your last day will be filled with pain, guilt and regret. You will welcome death when it comes."

Circe unraveled the lariat from the comatose form of Diana and placed it back at her side. Stepping back she cast a spell with a wave of her hand and disappeared with a triumphant sneer as she teleported back to the Watchtower.

She felt tired but not as tired as she had expected to feel after confronting the Princess. It had been made quite easy thanks to the meddling of the one called Max Lord. She decided that after she had dealt with her enemies she would visit the helpful human pig.

As she stepped off of the teleporter pad she was accosted by the Green Lantern that Maxima had sparred with and that she had tampered with. He seemed to be quite in his normal mind and unfortunately, seemed to be in his right mind and with a desire to converse. She stopped intrigued.

"Maxima! I'm so glad you're here! I was hoping I'd run into you! I just wanted to run something by you and see what your opinion is about this matter," Hal said enthusiastically.

Circe spoke in Maxima's voice as best she could keeping her eyes trained on the ground. She was not afraid of losing in battle with the space warrior but she needed ot be subtle. "Go ahead, Lantern Jordan. What is it that you seek my opinion on?"

Hal told her how he and Dinah had a mutual crush on each other, but it was complicated by Ollie being Dinah's ex boyfriend and he and Ollie being best friends. He wanted to be with Dinah in the worst way but wanted to prove to her that he could be faithful first and he wanted to make sure things were good with Ollie first.

Hal saw Maxima stare at him as if he were crazy. "If you desire her and she desires you then you have nothing to fear! Go take her! Her former man has lost her. Life is short and you never know when it will be your last day. Take her far away from here for a few days and show her what it means to be with a true man," Circe answered him.

Hal just stared at her for a moment. "Max, baby. You're the best! I'm gonna do that. I'll go check on Ollie after the we return from our space love trip!" Hal gave Circe a big hug and took off to find Dinah.

Circe rolled her eyes and continued on down the hall to Princess Maxima's quarters.

13


	24. Chapter 24

The Birthday Present

Chapter 23

This Is The Reason You Should Never Interview Witches

JLA Satellite

Hal stood just outside of Dinah's door. Taking a deep breath he raised his hand to knock. Just then the door opened and Dinah stood there with a questioning and expectant look on her lovely face. Due to his immense willpower, Hal was able to stop his hand from knocking on Dinah's forehead.

Hal stared at her for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. He was going to do this but he was going to do it right.

"Dinah, I know neither of us wants to rush into anything. You don't want to get hurt again and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. But I do know that I want to be with you and that more than anything I want this to work. I was wondering if you'd take a trip with me as a friend. We'll get away for a few days, be back on time for Big Blues birthday bash. I think we have enough competent people who can cover for our combined green and scream powers. Whatta ya say?" Hal's voice was in control but his heart was racing and his eyes were pleading with her to say yes.

Dinah smiled up at him. "Where are you planning on taking me?" she asked softly.

Hal's face broke into a huge smile. "Selvina."

Dinah looked at him somewhat confused. "You're going take me to an old girlfriends house?"

Hal's smile grew larger, "No. Selvina is a planet. It's a jungle planet kind of like that moon in the Star Wars movie."

"Oh, you mean like Endor?" Dinah relaxed.

"Huh, oh, yeah. Like Endor! I can't believe you remembered!" Hal grinned.

Dinah smiled back. "Oh yeah, I remember. I have all those movies, you know."

The two laughed easily and found themselves holding hands across the space that neither had dared close between them.

Hal grew serious. "Listen, Dinah. I'm asking you to go with me on a trip. I give you my word that I'm not going to try seducing you or taking advantage of you in any way. You don't want to go; I'll drop it with no hard feelings. We go and you want to come back at any time you just say the word and we're back. I just want us to spend time together. We've been friends for years, so we both know each other pretty well. There are things about myself that scare me, but I'm sure I can leave that all behind. I want to prove that I can do this to you. I've never lied to a woman and I'm not gonna lie to you."

Dinah closed the gap between them, tippy toed up, gave Hal a quick kiss on the lips then dropped down and wrapped her arms around his torso in a tight hug. "I'm not worried in the least about how you will treat me, Hal." Dinah whispered. "If for some reason you do suddenly try to get fresh with me, I can always scream in your ear."

Hal stood still for a moment before wrapping his arms around Dinah in return. He smiled at her joke and stopped himself from making a sexual one about her last line. "I'll give you no reason for ear screaming, promise." He chuckled.

After several minutes of holding each other they slowly disentangled themselves. "Let's pack our things and then let Michael know that we're taking one of the Javelins for a few days. He can inform J'onn and the rest. It's been quite peaceful the last couple of days since we returned from Themyscira."

******M******

Maxima's Chamber

Circe sat in the middle of the room on the floor. She had been able to handle most of the relevant heroes, but she didn't want to waste time hunting down any more of them. She felt strong enough at this point to cast a spell over the minds of the remaining heroes. She had to be subtle about it. There were too many with strong or resistant minds. She couldn't make them forget about Superman or Wonder Woman. She wasn't that strong yet and she feared trying it would only serve to put them on the alert. She just needed them to be distracted for the next week. She needed them to be unaware of the birthday party plans, unaware of little behavior differences, unaware of absences. She wanted them to be more focused on their personal lives. To do this would be difficult and she would need to keep the heroes from working together against enemies. That would mean that she would have to intervene against threats on her own or paired with a hero.

Finally she was ready and speaking dark and terrible words not meant to be heard or uttered by human ears, she cast her spell.

******M******

Outside of Metropolis

Nightwing and the Flash sat just behind the tree line watching the cabin that housed the dangerous Max Lord.

Nightwing sat patiently. He knew that it would not be difficult to take the man down physically. He had already done so once, but he was hopeful of finding and taking down some of the man's connections as well. He was curious as well as to how the League, or in this case, Batman, planned on stopping the man without killing him and neutralizing him as a threat to others. He would have to wait and see.

Wally sat impatiently next to Nightwing, but in short spurts. When he couldn't take it anymore he would disappear for a few seconds. When he reappeared he usually had something to eat in his hands. He knew that they were supposed to wait for the right moment, that they needed to be patient but it just seemed a little to Kung Fu-ish to him.

Wally, as usual, was the one to break the silence. He was standing at the moment with a long submarine sandwich in his hands. Nightwing could tell that he was moving because his body seemed to at odd angles and little paths were appearing in the dirt around them.

"So, Dick? I know we gotta wait so that we can nab some more bad guys and I know that this Max guy is real bad news. But whatta ya say I go take him out real quick and then transport him to a dimension where there isn't anybody to mind control or to some dimension where everybody mind controls, or better yet to a place where he won't be able to control anybody cuz everybody will be resistant to his mind control?" Wally pleaded.

Nightwing looked at his best friend and smiled. The ideas weren't bad, but he was most impressed with how Wally had made the 24 inch sub disappear in a matter of seconds, while he talked to him and without ever sounding like he had his mouth full. The man was truly impressive.

Focusing back on Wally's suggestions, Dick found that he liked them just fine but he wanted to wait until he had the clear from Bruce and until they maybe had an accomplice or two. "I like it, Wally. Let's wait and see what Bruce has in mind first and let's see who shows up to keep this creep company. Then I imagine Bruce will have no problem with you taking this guy to one of these special dimensions you're going on about. By the way, where does this place where everybody is resistant to mind control exist?"

"Thanagar. I figured we could ask Kator and Shayera if they would be willing to have him locked up there or if they would let us take him there." Wally explained.

Nightwing was impressed; he found that his best friend never ceased to amaze and impress him. "I think that is a great idea. Let's run it by them and see what they say."

Wally shrugged, "We can't really contact them right now. After we got back from the mission on Themyscira, Kator and Shayera took a leave of absence. I think they are celebrating their anniversary or something like that. We aren't sure if they are on or off planet right now."

Dick glanced back up from checking his screens, "Well, that's okay. I'm sure Bruce has something interesting in mind for this guy anyways."

"Yeah, he probably does. It's just that I feel like I'm gonna bust if we don't do something soon. I mean this guy is bad news! Let's just take him and then you and Bats can do some detective work to track down his evil buddies or you can ask Big Blue to give you a hand. You know that he can focus and hear any conversation he wants to or look into any cargo ships and find drugs and all that jazz. He has the coolest powers. I wonder if he ever spends days where he decides that he'll look at all of the ladies in the League as if they were naked. He probably doesn't. It'd be way too distracting, but he must have considered it a couple of times," Wally considered out loud.

Nightwing had to control himself to keep from laughing out loud. "Wally, you are crazy! I don't think Supes mind works like that, but I know what you mean."

Wally sat down next to Dick. "Listen, thanks for hearing me out about Donna. I'm definitely gonna talk to her at the birthday party. Cross your fingers she doesn't shoot me down, buddy."

Dick looked at Wally amused. "I'm glad you've decided to talk to Donna. You said you were gonna talk to her at the birthday party? What birthday party?"

Wally grinned, "Ha! Very funny! Sometimes I forget that you are a clown compared to Bats."

Nightwing gave a somewhat confused smile. Wally kept going.

"Yeah, I think I'll wear something casual, Supes is pretty low key anyways. I'll walk up to her, cheek first, just in case she decides she wants to give me another kiss, you know. Then I think I'll ask her to go on a date with me. Maybe if I tell her that she doesn't have to wear her uniform she'll be more likely to go? No. She might think that I'm asking her to go out with me naked. That might make her kinda mad. Not that I would mind if she wanted to go somewhere with me naked, but I can't sound like a pervert. I gotta think through what I say so she'll want to keep kissing me and not start smacking me. So I'll have to tell her that she can wear whatever she wants to wear. That does sound much better and not at all pervy, doesn't it?"

Nightwing looked at Wally for a minute. "You haven't even thought about where you might take her, have you?"

Wally got a panicked look in his eyes. "Oh, man! See what I mean! She's gonna hate me."

Nightwing patted Wally on the shoulder. "Relax, just think of things you know she likes to do, things she talks about, things that are important to her and make sure the place or places you plan on taking her reflect what you know. It'll tell her that you listen and pay attention to her. It'll show that you care and that you're not just thinking of yourself. And besides, you don't have a date yet. Just focus on seeing her at whatever party it is that you're going to."

Wally looked at Nightwing gratefully. "Thanks, Dick. I know exactly where I'm gonna take her."

"No problem, buddy. Now, do you think you could bring me a little something to eat? Maybe work on keeping it intact on your way back and maybe don't eat any of it?" Nightwing asked.

Wally grinned mischievously, "You really can be demanding, you know that? You know better than most that there's a fee for any meal I fetch, but that's okay. I'll waive the fee this once."

******M******

The Next Day

Metropolis

Clark's Apartment

Lois sat up in bed. The apartment seemed too quiet. Getting up she peeked out the bedroom door and was surprised to see both her sister and Diana camped out in the living room. Lucy had the sofa bed pulled out and Diana was on the floor.

Lois moved to the bathroom to freshen up. A large part of her hoped that Diana had been successful in discovering a way for her to gain super powers for Clark's birthday, but she was quite certain that Diana would have already told her. She suspected it wouldn't happen. Those powers didn't just grow on trees or fall from the sky like a bolt of lightning. It seemed that she would have to offer Clark either Diana or Maxima. Diana had insisted that Powergirl was already romantically involved with another hero so she would not be available.

Remembering her conversation with Diana from the previous day Lois wasn't sure how Diana would respond in the end. She had seemed willing enough in the end but she had seemed quite resistant to the idea before that. Lois wondered if she should just ask Maxima instead. She had always been very open about her desire for Clark. After some more thought on the matter Lois exited the bathroom. Her mind was made up. She would make the offer to both. Whichever one accepted or whether both accepted she knew that Clark would have a very good birthday.

Lois figured it was the least that she could do. She touched her head tenderly. It felt a little odd but not really painful. As she entered the kitchen to start breakfast she wondered somewhat wistfully if she would ever have the chance to see the Green Arrow again.

******DP******

Daily Planet

Clark arrived to work straight from the farm. He had been torn about going home first to see Lois, but had decided to wait until lunch. He knew she was in good hands and he just wanted to think through what he would tell her a little more.

As Clark reached his desk Jimmy spotted him and called out, "Hi, CK! You have a visitor!"

Clark was halfway down to his chair. He stood back up immediately and smiled at Jimmy. "Hi, Jimmy. A visitor? This early?"

Jimmy grinned mischievously, "Yeah and is she hot! I don't know how you manage to attract so many gorgeous girls. You probably should have stayed single man. You definitely have a wasted talent."

Clark chuckled and walked over to the interview room that Jimmy pointed out to him. Just before he entered, he looked inside to see who it was while at the same time listening and smelling. He was a bit perplexed by the results. The smell was Maxima for sure, but there was something foreign in her smell. Something that he had never smelled on her before and the heartbeat was hers but it seemed just a bit off. It sounded like her heart when in battle. It was the only way Clark could describe it.

Clark entered the room and closed the door. Turning to Maxima he smiled and greeted her. "Hello, Maxima, what's wrong? Something's happened?"

Maxima didn't look up at him immediately but she stood slowly. She seemed unstable, weak, maybe hurt. Clark instantly assumed this was the reason for the slight peculiarities to her scent and her heart beat. He moved to steady her. As soon as he touched her he felt weak, tired, relaxed and content.

Slowly Maxima helped him sit down on a small couch in the room. She then climbed sensuously onto his lap. She was looking into his eyes now. Clark sat mesmerized as he stared back at her bright violet eyes. For the briefest of moments he wondered why they were not their normal shade of green but then all conscious thought and will fled him.

Circe traced lazy circles along Clark's chest, neck, chin and mouth. She sat on his lap with a very satisfied and triumphant smile. "I had heard that you have strengthened your mind to resist and counter mind control. I can feel your knew skills and strengths. It is quite impressive. But I have magic at my disposal; the most powerful of magic's. There really is no defense against me for one such as you. I knew that if I could control the Princess that you would be the least of my worries."

Circe sat back a bit and studied Clark's face with amusement. "I can see why the princesses Diana and Maxima desire you so much. You are quite beautiful to look upon even hidden in your ridiculously oversized clothes and glasses, but enough with the compliments. I will tell you exactly why I am here. I have very good news for you and some news that you might find distasteful but you will help me with my plan regardless. You will see that it is for the best."

Circe leaned back onto Clark, she pressed Maxima's body tightly against him and spoke seductively into his ear while stroking his hair. "I hear you are having a birthday party in a few days. Unfortunately not many of your friends will be able to attend but Diana and I will both be there. Diana is going to be your birthday present. She is going to offer herself to you. You are going to accept. You will take her and enjoy her. Take her wherever and however you like but you have no more than three days. If you have taken her off of the satellite then you will bring her back bound to my chambers. Then you will please me in front of the princess until I am satisfied. When we are done you will take the now heartbroken princess by force and then kill her for me."

The witch sat back again and stared intently into Clark's eyes again. "You would like that wouldn't you?" she asked in her most melodious and seductive voice.

Clark was still for a moment. When he spoke, his voice sounded wooden. "I would very much like that."

Circe smiled. "You will do as you are told?"

Clark responded robotically again, "I will enjoy the Princess Diana, I will satisfy you and I will kill the Princess."

Circe laughed triumphantly. "Very good, Superman! Now, don't worry. The Princess is going to want to die by the time you have finished with her anyway. And I promise that as soon as you have killed her I will return your mind to you and I won't kill you. You'll be able to continue being Superman for a very long time. It's really just the Princess that I want dealt with. When you think about it; it is quite a good exchange. Only one hero dies. With her humiliation and death I am satisfied, the rest of the Amazons are left alone, you and your friends are left alone and everyone goes back to their normal lives. Now, I'm still debating whether or not to erase her memory from your mind afterwards. Not sure that is easily done but maybe I'll just erase her importance to you. That way you can go about your life without a huge cloud of regret hanging over you."

Circe snuggled against him once more, "Or we could just allow you to remember everything to the tiniest detail. That would be quite a victory for me as well; seeing the great Superman wallowing in self pity and loathing for having killed his true love and best friend with his own hands. Oh yes, I forgot to mention to you. In those last moments when you are with me and then turn against her I'm going to allow her to have full control of her mind but not her body. She will know what is happening and she will more than likely plead with you. I think that will be most satisfying for me. I think the plan is quite wonderful. Don't you think so, Kal-El?"

"It is a good plan." Clark responded. His voice sounded more natural now but his eyes were still far away.

Circe nibbled Clark's ear then moved to his mouth. Staring at it she said huskily, "That is very good, my pet. It's what I wanted to hear. Now run along and forget about me for now. I'll see you in a few days. Make sure that you are extra nice to the princess this week. After all once you kill her you won't have a chance to be nice to her again."

Clark nodded his head in agreement.

Circe kissed him fiercely. She waited until he responded to her kiss and then broke the kiss somewhat breathless. Panting she stood up smiling. "I can see why the princess Maxima desires you so. Don't worry. You'll have a chance to say good bye to her as well. I will see you in a few days my wonderful pet!"

With that Maxima disappeared out the door.

Moments later

Clark stepped out of the interview room and walked back to his desk. Jimmy was gone on an assignment. Most of the other reporters were otherwise occupied. Nobody noticed Clark sitting quietly staring at his desk for the next half hour, or when he stood up and walked out.

******G******

Bruce was in his room. Alfred had found him on all fours laughing in the library. He knew that something was horribly wrong but for some reason he could not think of who to call. Whenever he went to a phone or computer he could not remember what he needed to do. He had finally sedated him and half carried him to his bed.

Zatanna was also in the room. He gave her what comfort he could. Right now she was lying next to Bruce. It was obvious that she knew it was him. She was snuggled up tightly against him. It was obvious that she expected him to respond to her touch and communicate with her and the frustration showed plainly on her face.

Alfred was at a loss as to what to do. If he allowed Bruce out of his induced stupor he was capable of harming Zatanna, but by keeping him sedated he was keeping his brilliant mind however affected from solving the problem at hand.

Unsure what to do, Alfred stayed in the room watching carefully over the boy he had raised and watched over since he was eight and the lovely Zatanna.

******S******

One day before the party

Maxima's Chambers JLA Satellite

Circe studied her host's body in the full length mirror. She had to admit that in the beauty department as well as the physical power department, Maxima's body was an improvement over her own. She would have no trouble with Superman or Wonder Woman. They were both completely under her spell. The one she had been the most worried about was the Princess but the lariat forged in Hades had weakened her enough to the point of complete and total compliance.

She had neutralized most of the other heroes in some form. Her spell seemed to be working. There were only three that gave her any concern. The Flash was one. She had run into him a couple of days after neutralizing both Batman and the Princess. She had actually tried to arrange her time on the Satellite so that she would run into him.

Circe had been completely taken by surprise at how shocked he had seemed at her wanting to talk to him. At first he had been nervous and timid, but after listening to her for a couple of minutes he had suddenly warmed up. He seemed to have no off button for his mouth. She had thrown out several silent mental commands to test his malleability and had been somewhat horrified at how quickly he freed himself from her control. Each time he had been free in less than a second and had not seemed to notice that he had ever been attacked mentally.

Next Circe had attempted some silent spells to control him. His speech had suddenly slowed down to a slur. Muttering something about being hungry he had continued talking to her anyway, his slurred speech suddenly gone and a very large sandwich in his hand.

Circe had again been horrified as she realized that he had continued talking to her while at the same time leaving to find food at such a speed that she had not even noticed him move or missed a word he had said.

She had a couple of animal transformation spells that she was certain would work on the tireless talking boy but she decided to hold those in reserve for a more crucial time. She decided to end the conversation after hearing him explain for the tenth time that he hadn't realized that she was attracted to him and that he was very flattered, but that he was already involved with the younger princess.

Circe had easily managed to look hurt that he preferred the younger princess over her. It was just another reason to add to her hatred for the Amazons in general and the princesses in particular.

The other heroes she was somewhat concerned about were the Thangarian couple. She had found in the past that the nth metal in their armor and weapons gave her trouble as did the fact that the two could resist her psychic attacks. She had never attempted any spells on them but she had tried to bring them under her own powerful mental sway. She had partially succeeded with the male but had utterly failed with the female. Before she had been able to adjust her strategy the elder Amazon princess and Superman had arrived and between the four of them she had been forced to retreat.

While she was most worried about those three particular heroes should a confrontation take place, she felt somewhat safe that the three seemed oblivious to what was taking place around them. The Hawks had actually taken a short leave of absence and she did not know where they were. The Flash was everywhere, but he seemed very distracted and apparently so preoccupied with Superman's coming birthday party and the younger Princess that he hadn't really put much thought into the change in behavior from some heroes or the absence of others.

Realizing that it would take too long to deal with every hero individually Circe had waited until she felt enough control and power to cast an all inclusive spell to block the memories of the rest of the League and their friends. No one would be asking after the Lanterns, the magician, the Batman or the Martian. And most would not remember to show up for Superman's birthday party.

Everything was working smoothly. Tomorrow was the big day. Tomorrow her victory over the Amazons would begin in earnest.

******S******

Star City

Ollie stared at himself in the mirror. He was sure now that he had some of the issues going on figured out. Something was wrong with Maxima. Somehow she had gone bad on them. It was the only explanation for her stealing Diana's lariat. What he couldn't believe was that there were two of them.

He needed to talk to Bruce or Kator but neither one was answering his calls. Hal was out of the question. He couldn't find it in himself to call him friend at the moment even though he acknowledged the hypocrisy of his stance he still couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal from him. But that was something he could put aside. Something bigger was going on and he suspected he had been used like a chump somehow to get to the other heroes. Nobody was responding to him.

Ollie checked his weapons case everything was set he was going to have to invite the Almeracan guard woman he had spent two nights with to spend some time with him at his home. Then he was going to board his jet and go see Bruce. Bruce would know what to do. Even if he didn't want to talk to him he would listen to his story and investigate. It was all he asked.

Having decided on his plan of action Ollie pulled out the private signal device that his amazing Almeracan girlfriend had given him and sent her a message to come and visit him in the evening

Moments later he received an affirmative awnswer. Ollie mentally prepared himself for a very strenuous night.


	25. Chapter 25

The Birthday Present

Chapter 24

Lois, You're So Hot! Diana! You're so Hot! Yep. And A Little Mind Control Thrown In For Good Measure.

Five Days Before Clark's Birthday

Metropolis

Clark entered his apartment quietly. Everything about him was quiet. He moved somewhat robotically as he removed his shoes and then moved into the kitchen. It was while he was staring into the fridge that he slowly became aware of where he was.

Pulling out a jug of milk he poured himself a cup and took a sip. It was nice having the freedom to come and go from the newsroom. It was the only way to accomplish investigative reporting. And there was nothing wrong with a pit stop. He smiled at the thought and the feel of the little comforts of life. Having a place to call home, having a job, family and friends, being married…The smile left his face as memories of the day before came flooding back.

As the distasteful memories kicked in so did his super hearing. He made out three distinct heart beats; two from the living room, one from the bedroom. All three heartbeats were healthy and strong.

Lois was up and moving around in the bedroom. Lucy and Diana were both asleep in the living room. Clark moved to the entrance of the living room where he could see their sleeping forms without looking through anything. He was grateful that both had decided to stay with Lois. He found that his eyes lingered over Diana's form. He felt that he needed to be extra nice to her. She was always so selfless in offering her assistance and friendship. He would have to make it a point to go out of his way from now on. He smiled to himself then turned and made his way to the bedroom and to Lois.

She was sitting in bed, still in her pajama's. He felt conflicting emotions raging within him as he studied her. On the one hand he felt betrayed and therefore disgusted with Lois. At the same time he wanted to reach out to her and comfort her. He knew logically that Lois was not to blame for what had happened. She was the true victim and so the man with the perfect memory, with the surprisingly analytical and logical mind, quickly categorized his wife as one who deserved compassion and understanding. The man raised by the loving and patient couple from Smallville, the man whose parents had sacrificed all to spare his life and give him a chance to grow and live and love in a new world desired to take his wife in his arms and whisper words of love and understanding.

Clark approached Lois slowly, delicately. He could see that she was a bit off even before she acknowledged his presence with words. It was in her body language. It was blazingly obvious by the simple fact that this late in the morning she was not at the office or chasing a story or lead but sitting in her room in her pajamas staring somewhat blankly off into space.

When Lois did turn to Clark she smiled warmly and reached out for him with her left arm.

Clark sat down softly on the bed next to her holding her left hand gently in both of his. Something was wrong. Yesterday Lois had been a sobbing mess. She had fallen asleep convinced that he hated her and that he would never want to touch her again. Now she was smiling blissfully. She even came across as flirtatious in the way she was looking at him.

"Lois?" Clark started.

"I'm glad you're home, Clark." Lois interrupted. "Are you okay? Are you going to make it?"

Clark didn't really know how to respond to her question. He wasn't sure where she was coming from, and truth be told, he didn't know if he was okay, but he was certain that he was going to make it and his wife was going to make it as well. "What do you mean, Love."

Lois giggled as she leaned against him. "Oh, you know. You stormed out of here after I fell asleep. You didn't come back home last night. For a minute I thought that you might have gone to have revenge sex with someone, but from the looks of it I would guess that's not what you were doing."

Clark stiffened, "Revenge sex? Why would you think I would do that? I can't blame you for what happened. We'll make it through this. We're not the only couple on this planet who have gone through difficult times. I know people who have gone through much worse. I pledged myself to you. Remember? Well, I meant every word of it."

Lois giggled again. It sent shivers down Clark's spine. It was so out of character for her given the circumstances. She climbed up onto his lap. For some reason her action gave Clark a disturbing sense of déjà vu.

Cradling his face in her hands Lois kissed him long and passionately. Clark felt the familiar and welcome touch of his pretty wife. She tasted nice. He held her gently so as not to bruise her and responded with care and tenderness.

After a few minutes Lois pulled back slowly panting happily but with a convinced look in her eyes. Trailing a finger across his lips and down to his chin she spoke breathlessly. "You can't do it. You can't let go. This was meant to happen. I'm very happy with you but you need more. You're gonna have a wonderful birthday. There are going to be some changes. If you can open your mind to the possibilities I think you'll see that they make perfect sense. It's what we both need."

"What are you talking about, Lois?" Clark stared at her. He was truly worried now. She never talked in riddles. She was blunt. She always spoke her mind even if it got her into trouble.

"It's a surprise. You'll see soon enough and I know you'll like it." She responded cryptically. She slowly stood from his lap, leaned down and planted another quick kiss on his lips and then moved to the closet and changed from her pajamas into a pair of running shorts and tank top. She turned catching him staring at her while she changed. She was always amused and flattered with the way he drank in her body. He did not hide that he found her physically attractive. She moved back to him.

"I'm going for a run. You go on back to work. If you're extra good I'll give you a little something tonight. Maybe I should say that if I'm extra good you'll give me a little something tonight." She giggled at her joke and then continued. "Before you return to work, spend some time with Diana. She's been here all night and a good portion of yesterday. You two need to connect. I'll see you later. I'm gonna wake up Lucy to come run with me."

Clark sat on the bed smiling gently at his wife's retreating form. Perhaps things were going to work out after all. She seemed to be happy even if she was somewhat off. He could live with the change. She was certainly acting much sexier. He liked it. The moments turned into minutes the minutes into an hour. Clark suddenly realized that he was alone in the apartment. Lois and Lucy (who had taken nearly the whole intervening hour to get ready to leave) had gone out to run. No. He was not alone. Diana was in the living room sleeping.

Clark stood up and entered the living room. It didn't strike him as strange that Diana was still sleeping, although she was not a late sleeper. While her senses were nowhere near as sensitive or powerful as his, she was still gifted with enhanced senses and all the noise that Lois and Lucy had made getting around would have long since triggered her to wakefulness.

Clark moved over to her and toed her gently and teasingly to wake her up. She groaned unhappily and turned from her side sleeping position to mostly sleeping on her stomach. The sheet she was using came partly off, revealing part of her upper thigh, and a good portion of her perfectly curved bottom. It was barely covered with an oversized shirt that Clark realized was one of his old ones. The view was spectacular.

In addition to Diana's beautiful body, a good portion of her lariat showed. It was tangled in the sheet, her legs and the oversized shirt. Clark reached down to move the lariat. Once his fingers locked on it all thoughts of vows and faithfulness fled his mind and he found himself staring at his best friend with nothing but lust and desire.

Automatically he moved the hand tangled in the lariat over Diana's exposed leg. He caressed her tenderly and with the intent to wake her. He was bending over to kiss her leg when his phone went off.

Clark pulled his hand back, dropping the lariat as he moved to answer the phone. "Hello. It's Clark," He answered coolly.

"CK! So glad I got a hold of you. Could you or Lois come meet me at the river by the old abandoned factories and warehouses? Three more bodies just showed up. Looks like the bodies of the guys that were transporting that Dr. Williams character."

Clark was looking down at Diana with what could only be categorized as unbridled lust but it was not nearly as strong as when he had been in contact with the lariat. "Yes. I'll meet you there in a few minutes, Jimmy."

"Great! See you soon!" Jimmy hung up.

Clark shut off his phone and leaned down over the lovely sleeping form of his best friend. "I've gotta go. But I'll see you soon. We're gonna have a very nice week together. I promise to be extra nice to you." He kissed her softly on her exposed ear and his hand trailed possessively along her exposed thigh. He gently cupped and caressed her bottom just as possessively; heat came off from his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to wake her and make her his. But his mind was just clear enough to grasp that there was something important to be done and the lariat was not touching him at the moment. He stood up and left.

Four Days before Clark's Birthday

Nightwing was tired of sitting and waiting. He needed a break. They had their quarry trapped. He was going nowhere and getting half eaten sandwiches from Wally was getting old. He needed to stretch and shower and sleep. If he was not in good shape at the time of the showdown he risked losing control and maybe even being vulnerable to mind control. It was something he couldn't allow.

Babs was keeping tabs on the man electronically and by satellite. She had finally detected an encrypted message to what seemed to be a cargo ship. The ship still had a day before it came into port and then another two hours before then men on board would be able to make it to Lord's cabin in the wooded hills. She had convinced Dick to go to her apartment to clean and rest up and she just wanted to see him rather badly a sentiment that he shared as well.

Dick had agreed to the plan only if Wally and someone else could cover for him while gone. Someone trustworthy. Wally had suggested Helena. Babs and Dick had both said no rather quickly. It made Wally somewhat curious as to why, but he let it slide planning on asking him about it at a later date. They had considered Blue Beetle but Kord had been off the grid since the return of the heroes from Themyscira. They finally settled on Roy. He was longtime friend and teammate. While he didn't have the skills to block out mind control he was very intelligent, good in a fight and knew how wait.

Wally liked him just fine but found that he tended to be full of himself and somewhat arrogant at times. He promised to look out for him nonetheless while Dick rested so that the three of them could take the group down together.

Roy had teleported to their location. He was a little taller than the 5'10" Nightwing and the 5'11" Wally. He enjoyed throwing his weight around and rough housing with his teammates. While both Dick and Wally were more than capable of handling him in a scuffle, Wally never had and Dick had only done so on a rare occasion.

Roy greeted his two friends with a sharp punch to the shoulder each. He grinned from ear to ear as Dick and Wally spent the next few minutes explaining the situation while vigorously rubbing their shoulders. When they were done he nodded his head. "Okay. Don't engage the enemy, until you get back, just observe his or their activity. Don't let myself be seen or detected. Stay outside here for minimum of twenty four hours without the pleasure of a hot female companion to help pass the time, watch and listen to speedy pants here instead. Got it. not sure why you don't just bust in there, beat the snot out of the loser and call it a day, but whatever fearless leader."

Wally wanted to tell him to be his guest and try doing just that, but kept his mouth shut and let Dick talk.

Dick just slapped Roy on the back good naturedly. He had thought about hitting him in a pressure point to induce temporary paralysis, but had thought better of it. "Thanks, Roy. I knew I could trust you. I'm sure the time will fly by. I'll be back in no time and we'll take these creeps down together. Remember to keep yourself out of sight and sound. If he knows you're here then our mission goes down the tubes."

"Right, right. Got it. Don't let the scary middle aged man know that helpless little old me is here." Roy rolled his eyes.

"Oh he's not at all helpless. If for some reason you are detected and have to engage you leave him to Wally. Wally is immune to mind control." Dick insisted.

Roy grunted, "So why am I even here again? So "I'm so fast" can save my butt? You know I can handle myself. Don't worry. Go get your rest. I've got it under control."

Wally grinned at Dick, "Go on, buddy. Roy and I got this. Tell Babs I said hi and get some rest. See you tomorrow."

Dick was about to teleport away when his communicator went off. "Nightwing, here." He answered.

"Hey, Donna! You're at the Tower? Do I know where he is? Yeah. He's right here. I'll let you talk to him." Dick was about to pass his communicator to Wally when Roy snatched it from his hand.

"Hi, Gorgeous. Finally broke down and decided to give us a try, I see. Yeah, I'm here, helping out Dick, but I can teleport back there in no time at all and we can start working on our relationship. Glad you finally acknowledged all of that unspoken sexual tension we've had for the past several months. I didn't want to rush you. I realized that with your background things would move a little slower, but now I'll show you why your favorite teammate is called a "real man" by the ladies. You're gonna be wondering why you waited so long to surrender. Get ready for your world to get turned upside down…what? Wally? You were calling to talk to Wally? You know you got yourself a really great sense of humor! So seriously, I'll be there in a second…Oh. You're serious? You're not kidding? Whoa, Gorgeous. You wound me deeply. That's a serious slap in the face. But it's cool. I know you're really new at this. When things fall apart for you with lightening shorts, give me a call."

Roy looked at Wally incredulously. "I can't believe this. She wants to talk to you; the speeding goofball. Bet you'll come in your shorts just talking to her." Roy started laughing but a sudden strike to the side of his neck made him go limp and a hand over his mouth silenced him.

Nightwing was staring hard at him. "Stop making so much noise. This is a serious mission and \you leave Donna and Wally alone. Now you're gonna be able to feel your legs again in a few seconds. I hope I can count on you to do what I asked and to not be a jerk. If not then I'll just get someone else."

Roy nodded. He had never seen Nightwing truly angry and suddenly realized how good he was. He felt somewhat foolish at the way he had been acting. It was hard for him to act in any other way. It was the way he had always been. He genuinely liked Wally, but he just couldn't fathom any female choosing another male over him. It was unthinkable; it made no logical sense whatsoever. And if there was anything that could distract Roy from a mission it was a female, specifically the prospect of sex with a female and he had very much been looking forward to finally seducing Donna. He had never seen a lovelier or more desirable woman in his life. "It's cool, Dick. Just got taken by surprise there; didn't see that coming at all."

Dick relaxed his hold. "I'm going now. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Wally handed him back his communicator with the smile of one in love. "She wants to see me tomorrow. She wants to see me before the party."

Nightwing nodded his head in a distracted fashion, touched his teleporter and disappeared.

Roy looked at Wally for a minute. Finally he asked, "What party?"

Three Days Before Clark's Birthday

Wally was taking a nap. It was early morning. Nightwing was due back in another hour and then apparently he was to stay a little longer so that Wally could go see Wondergirl. It was somewhat frustrating to the ego, and while Roy was a fairly large guy, but his ego was even larger. With a grunt he stood up from his post and decided to go for a stroll out of sight of the cabin.

The sky was still grey, it would be minutes before the sun started to peek over the eastern hills but it was light enough for curious eyes see movement if they were looking carefully and specifically for just that sort of thing. Max had stepped out of the cabin to look down the side of the small mountain. He knew the men he was waiting for would not be arriving for a few more hours but he was bored to death of having to hide in the cabin. He had come out to look anyway and to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. He froze when he saw and heard movement in the brush. It was the kind of noise that was not made by the wind.

Max Lord was no nature expert, but he was extremely cautious and jumpy at the moment. He had not realized how far he had moved from the cabin. Suddenly he was face to face with a tall red headed powerfully built young man in a red outfit that reminded him of a cross between an American Indian and a barbarian. The smoothly shaven face and close-cropped red hair said he was neither as did the fancy weaponry he sported. No sooner had they come face to face then the young man had him pinned to a tree with a sharp blade against his neck.

Max smiled on the inside. He had himself a new bodyguard. "I'm not gonna try and fight you, my young friend. You can take the blade away from my throat."

The young man slowly lowered his knife. Released him and stepped back somewhat stiffly.

Max straightened himself up and smiled at the young man. "Thank you. That was very kind of you. Could you tell me what you are doing out here?"

Max listened to Roy's story with interest. When he finished he nodded his head as he wiped the blood from his nose. "I see. Well, I think it would be best if you went back to your post. Later when your friend is back and your fast friend is gone. I think you should storm the cabin. There will be five men coming. They are quite evil. I think that you and your friend should take them, and then you should probably just kill your friend. You could do it as a favor to me then you and I can take the money and go. You'll have all the money and woman you want if you stick with me. What do you say?"

The red headed young man nodded his head in understanding and walked away, melting into the forest.

Max returned to his cabin. He was both scared and relieved.

Two hours later

Nightwing teleported back to the wooded hiding spot. Wally and Roy were both up. Wally was the one looking at the monitors. Roy seemed to be staring off into space.

Nightwing was grinning from ear to ear. "I'm telling you there's nothing that some sweet love and attention from your girl can't fix. I feel like a billion dollars right now!"

Wally grinned and high fived him. Roy didn't move.

Nightwing walked over to him. "What's wrong with you? Anybody ever mentions sex and you're the first jump up and start demanding details. You still sore about Donna not having a thing for you? You gotta stop that. You know you wouldn't have stuck with her for long anyways. You're not the kinda guy who does. So just let it go. I'm sure by tomorrow you'll have somebody new in your sights, ya big baby!" He smacked him playfully on the shoulder expecting him to retaliate with a wrestling match.

Roy didn't respond very much. In fact he only grunted. Then suddenly he was fine and talkative. But Nightwing could tell that something was off.

"Yeah, I'm cool. Let's give Wally a chance to get out of here. You and I can take these clowns with no problem. Wally has to get ready to meet Donna anyways," Roy finally responded.

Nightwing nodded thoughtfully then turned to Wally. "Go ahead, I'll be fine here with Roy. If anything goes down maybe you and Donna can both come help us out."

Wally nodded, got ready to leave and stopped. "What about Bats? Can he help you or is he tied up with something else? It'd be cool if he were here too."

Nightwing looked very confused. "Bats? Why would we want bats to help us? You know that many of them carry rabies? That would not be a good idea.

Wally shrugged his shoulders and left.

Just minutes after Wally had departed, an all terrain vehicle pulled up to the cabin and five dangerous looking men got out and went in.

Nightwing and Red Arrow looked knowingly at each other. It was time.

"Game on, buddy. You ready?" Nightwing asked Roy.

"Oh, I'm ready" Roy replied darkly.

The two moved rapidly and silently towards the cabin. It was still early morning so the sun was not very high in the sky, and the cabin was still deep in shadows from thick surrounding forest. Nightwing sprang up, grasped the edge of the one story roof and pulled himself up in one fluid motion. Moving quickly he dropped a couple of tear gas grenades down the chimney and was down next to the front door.

Roy shot two arrows filled with the same gas into the only window of the cabin then took his position next to the window. It had all taken just a few seconds for the two young but experienced heroes.

Within seconds of their assault the door burst open and two of the six men came rushing out coughing and choking.

Nightwing made quick work of them. They were out before they knew what hit them. He secured them to their vehicle and raced to help Roy. He had two down but seemed to be having trouble with the third one. Nightwing struck like lightening and put the man down instantly. Glancing up he saw Max Lord racing into the woods. He shouted for Roy to follow him and made to race after the fleeing enemy. He took three steps stopped threw a tracer at the fleeing man then dropped and rolled to the right. As he came up he let fly with one of his throwing blades just as a wicked looking arrow imbedded itself deep into the tree that had been just in front of Nightwing.

Nightwings blade knocked Red Arrow's bow from his hand, but did little damage to him. Without even a grunt, Red Arrow pulled his long knife and charged his friend as Nightwing raced to close the gap as well.

Just before the two clashed, Nightwing somersaulted over his friend spraying knockout gas in his face as he did so. He landed like a jungle cat facing his foe and ready to continue. He noticed that Roy was swaying and rubbing his face. He sprang up, grasped the wrist with the long knife and squeezed the pressure points until Roy dropped it, then he gently lowered him to the ground as Roy slowly began to lose consciousness.

Sorry about the gas, buddy. Didn't want to have to kick or punch you. You're gonna have a nasty after taste in your mouth but at least you're not gonna have any bruises. Can't believe you let this guy get to you. This means I gotta let him go for now. But I'll get him. He's not gonna make it too long up here on his own in the woods. You know, you did try to kill me just now? That was not cool. Remind me to seriously teach you how to resist mind control. Can't believe you haven't learned it already. I offered you a couple of times and I know that Ollie knows. He was taught by…Nightwing found that he couldn't think of who it was that had taught Ollie, much less who had taught him.

Something was seriously wrong.


	26. Chapter 26

The Birthday Present

Chapter 25

Two Lassoes? No, No, No. There are Three Lassoes, Silly. Oh, And A Vice Like Grip.

Three Days Before The Party

"Oh, wow! It's gold like your sisters' but it glows blue! How does it work?" Wally asked excitedly.

Wally and Donna were on the balcony of her room at the embassy. It was away from prying eyes and still offered a lovely view of a richly forested area to the west and a nice view of the ocean to the east. The two had spent most of the morning walking, talking and shopping in civilian attire. They had enjoyed each other's company immensely. The last couple of hours had been spent on Donna's balcony. They had passed the time sharing with each other about their childhood, how they had received their powers and abilities as well as sharing some of their likes and dislikes. At the moment the two were standing near the stone railing. Donna was holding up her lasso for Wally to inspect.

"This is my second lasso. My first one looked a lot like Diana's but it was just a plain lasso. This one is a lot more like hers'. I call it my lasso of persuasion. It's pretty much unbreakable like Diana's lasso but instead of forcing one to tell the truth like hers does, it makes people susceptible to me. I can persuade pretty much anyone to do whatever I want. So I can make people tell the truth if I want or make them quack like a duck or make them be quiet, or make them laugh or even make them come to visit me every week." Donna said the last with a twinkle in her eyes.

Wally was very impressed. "Wow! But you didn't tell me why it glows blue."

"Oh, that. I guess it has to do with emotions and life. It's as if the lasso has a life of its own. It glows blue when it is in contact with my body. It senses what I want. It glows even stronger when I speak what I want and when it is in physical contact with someone else at the same time. I used it yesterday to stop an argument between two sisters. I bound the two of them in it and then told them that they needed to work out their problem in a mature manner. They are sisters after all and we tend to be the target of a lot of nastiness, especially from some of the gods. Want to see how it works?"

Wally almost choked. "You mean…Do I want to…You're gonna tie me up?" He was starting to vibrate with excitement.

Donna giggled. "I'm not going to tie you up. Just grab onto this end of the lasso here like this." Donna placed one end of the lasso in Wally's outstretched hand then looped it around his wrist a couple of times.

"What was all that, 'I'm not going to lasso you' nonsense you just gave me?" Wally grinned.

Donna grinned back. "Sorry. Some habits are hard to break. But to be fair, I didn't lasso you. I looped you. Big difference there, hot stuff. Now, let's see if I can persuade you to do something I want you to do. It's not really mind control. It's more like some kind of old, magical power. Okay, I want you to make yourself vibrate so fast that your body comes off the ground. Let me say it more persuasively. 'Wally. I want you to vibrate into the air for me.'"

Wally grinned back and immediately he was floating several feet about the balcony. He did not look like he was vibrating to normal eyes, but Donna could see the slight oddity of different angles his legs seemed to be taking.

"Okay, you can come down now," she said triumphantly.

Wally came down and looked at her mischievously. "You know, I would have done that for you without you having to use the LOP."

Donna looked a little confused. "The LOP?" she asked.

"Yep. The LOP: Lasso of Persuasion. But even though I woulda done it anyways, I still felt an irresistible and compelling desire to do it when you said it. And look at how blue it's glowing right now!"

Donna grinned at him. "That's because it's still looped around your wrist and I'm already thinking about what I'm going to persuade you to do next."

Wally grinned back. "Okay, cool. Persuade away, Pretty Princess."

Donna's face beamed, "Well, Wally, I want you to come visit me at least once a week from now on if you can, and getting together to take down villains doesn't count. Course I only want you to come visit me if you want to as well. If you don't then I free you from the power of my lasso."

Wally couldn't believe his ears. He actually pinched himself, cleared his throat twice, and then finally rasped out, "Could you repeat that first part of your spell again? Pretty please?"

Donna was a little bit taken aback by his request, but she complied. She had not used her new lasso much, but then she had not had it for long. So she wasn't sure if she was using it correctly. She repeated her request, but this time she made it even more heartfelt. "Wally, if you enjoyed our morning together as much as I have then I want you to come visit me at least once a week from now on, please." She added the please on the end this time.

Wally's characteristic grin disappeared. "I'll come visit as often as you want me to. You'll never have to use your lasso to make me want to see you. I've wanted this for a very long time, but I was too chicken to ask you," he said sincerely.

Donna and Wally did not know how they ended up standing so close.

"You can be very sweet, Wally," Donna whispered her head tilted back slowly.

"You're the nicest and most beautiful girl in the universe, Donna," Wally whispered back. His face was slowly drawing closer to hers.

"I had a great time this morning," she continued whispering.

"That's because we went shopping." Wally's voice was so husky it was almost no longer a whisper. It sounded more like very quiet grunting.

"That didn't sound very romantic," Donna informed him softly.

"I know. I'm kicking myself in my mind even as we speak." Wally was back to whispering again.

"Are you going to kiss me? Or are we going to keep whispering for a while longer?" Donna asked sweetly.

"I'm going to kiss you right now," Wally informed her huskily.

Their lips were now millimeters apart. Their eyes were wide open and staring into each other's and shining with the excitement of a new found friendship and attraction. The adventure of falling in love was dangling between them. The lasso was still wrapped around Wally's wrist on one end and around both of Donna's hands at the other end. It was glowing and pulsing. There was an aura of blue light that seemed to engulf them as they drew closer together.

And then Wally's communicator went off.

It was Nightwing.

"Wally? I need you to teleport Roy and me to Titan Tower ASAP."

Two Days Before Clark's Birthday

Lois seemed to be acting a little more like her old self. At least as far as her daily routines went. She was no longer sleeping in until noon. She was up with the sun and had run her three miles, showered and had breakfast all before seven thirty. Clark was glad to see her back to working and fighting for stories. She had not mentioned Max Lord again, but she was still an obviously different person. She behaved very seductively around him and continuously dropped hints and suggestions about him and Diana and even Maxima.

Clark was pretty sure that Lois had never met Maxima, but obviously the reputations of some were well known to the world. When it came to Maxima everyone seemed to know that she had the hots for Superman.

While Clark had quickly picked up on the change in Lois, he had seemed oblivious to the change in Diana. But then whenever he was near her his behavior changed as well. So he didn't notice that she was much less aware of dangers around her. This was not because her senses had in any way been dulled but because when they were in each other's company her whole attention and focus was on him.

Clark did in fact notice that her whole attention was on him, but he didn't mind. His whole attention was on her as well. The closer they were to each other the more focused on her he became. He found himself staring often and hungrily at her. It was obvious that his looks and attentions pleased her as she did nothing to dissuade his extra attentiveness or his little acts of intimate possessiveness.

When they were apart they seemed unaffected. As if they had never acted out of character. But even when they were in each other's presence and behaving oddly, they still managed to handle the emergency at hand, be it a disaster or a villain.

Today the two had stopped two bank robberies. Superman had dissipated a tornado in the Midwest and just minutes before an island village from being destroyed by a giant tsunami in the southeastern pacific. Diana had flown the villagers to an island deemed safe from destruction in her magical, invisible jet, while Superman had done what he could to repair the breach created by the underwater earthquake and its aftershocks.

They were currently standing on the empty beach in a fairly intimate embrace and seemingly indifferent to the rapidly oncoming tidal wave. It did not seem to matter to them that the wave was well over twenty feet high.

Diana had returned as quickly as she could to the island after taking the villagers to safety. She had flown happily to him when she spotted him standing on the beach staring off over the waves.

Clark had turned towards her with a gentle smile on his face for his beloved friend. but the closer Diana had gotten the less gentle and the more possessive the smile and look became.

Diana's joy at finding her friend safe had changed as well. She now had her arms wrapped around his neck and she stared up into his eyes longingly. Clark for his part allowed his hands to roam along her back, her hair and the perfect curve of her hips.

For a brief moment, Diana had a moment of clarity. Or at least as close to clarity as she could come while still in the arms of her best friend and in physical contact with the golden lasso from the underworld. "This isn't real is it, Kal? I wish we could be like this forever. I want you forever. Is this all just an evil spell? Are we going to wake up and be lost to each other?"

Superman looked down at her. His eyes were dark with desire, but there seemed to be something even darker in his voice. "Together is a very long time. I don't think we'll have forever together, but we have now." With that he floated the two of them into the sky and then dove headfirst, with Diana still held tightly to him, into the oncoming tidal wave. He plunged down following the ocean floor as it quickly dropped away from the island. He went deeper and further until he saw that the pressure was becoming somewhat uncomfortable for Diana. He stopped his downward plunge and slowly allowed their bodies to float back towards the surface.

In the near total darkness of the depths of the pacific he stared at Diana. For a moment the lasso lost physical contact with their bodies as it floated around them in the watery blackness. Clark saw Diana's face. In that moment he read the desires that mirrored his own, but he also saw fear. He wondered briefly why his Diana would be afraid. What or who could possibly make her afraid. He even briefly wondered what he was doing holding her so possessively, but then they were again within the embrace of the false lasso's coils. Most rational thoughts fled and as the two broke the surface what little distance there was between their lips disappeared as they met in a fierce and passionate kiss. It was the second kiss the two had ever shared, but the first in which both so willingly and hungrily participated.

They explored each other's mouth with probing tongue, each relishing the taste of the other. Superman landed on his back on the sand, still holding Diana tightly to him. When their lips parted, Diana sat up straddling him and panting for breath. Superman smiled possessively at her as the bright yellow sun glowed blindingly overhead.

He caressed her legs, thighs and buttocks eliciting a moan from Diana's lush lips. "You're all wet," he said huskily.

"Yes, I'm…all…wet. It's your…fault for…taking…us for…that swim…" Diana began. She was still panting.

"I like it when you are all wet. I want to see you all wet more often. I have to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow." Superman crushed her to him and rolled her underneath him. He ran his lips along her right shoulder, up her sensitive, strong, slender neck to her ear. He nibbled her ear lobe softly, inhaled sharply as if he needed to imprint her scent deeply into his mind. He ran one hand possessively along her back and down to wonderful curve of her butt. He squeezed her just as possessively again. "This is all mine," he said it as a statement of fact.

"Yes, all yours," Diana replied in complete surrender.

"Good," Superman replied. And then he was gone.

One Day Before Clark's Birthday

Ave Duer: Second Moon Of Thanagar

Shayera and Kator walked towards their Star ship slowly. The last several days had been spent mostly behind the closed doors of a resort. Ave Duer was not a beautiful moon. It was lifeless. Those who came to the Ave Duer resort were not interested in sightseeing, but in complete privacy. Sharyera grinned. They had barely left their bed for food. It had been just right for the sleeping and lovemaking, although they eventually used other parts of the room as well. They had talked and planned on taking a more scenic vacation on this occasion. They had been to this particular resort so many times that they had felt they should do something a little different. In the end they had decided to forget the sightseeing. They had much more enjoyable things to do together than sightsee anyway.

Their time was up. They would have to hurry in order to make it to Superman's birthday party. They had not missed one in the last seven years and they did not intend to now. He was a trusted and cherished friend and ally. He had always been there for them and for their people.

"Not sure we're going to make it on time, Love," Kator complained as they loaded their belongings into the star ship.

Shayera adjusted her harness, "So you wish we had left an hour earlier instead of…"

Kator interrupted her retort by pulling her to him and crushing her lips to his. After he felt her lovely and familiar form mold to his, he broke the kiss and whispered in her ear, "Never. You know that. I just think that next year we should take our time off during a time when we don't have to cut it short."

Shayera smiled up at her normally fierce and serious husband. One hand snaked up to play with his thick curly black hair. "I know and I love your idea. Now let's go. I would hate to miss Kal-El's birthday party as much as you."

They two quickly finished loading the ship, checked all systems and then blasted off into space. When they were sufficiently distant from Ave Duer and Thanagar a tunnel of light formed in front of them. The ship became a blip and then disappeared in a streak of light into the tunnel.

Titan Tower

"So you can't remember who taught you how to resist mind control?" Wally asked incredulously.

Donna, Wally and Nightwing sat at a table in the T Tower discussing the problems of the last couple of days. Roy was sedated, stripped of his weapons and lying in a holding cell.

"Nope. Can't remember. I know he taught Ollie as well, but that's all I can remember," Nightwing explained.

"Oh, well at least you remember that he's a guy. That's good. Okay I'm gonna give you a hint. His name starts with B and ends with atman. Any wild guesses? No? Don't even want to try? Oh man! You're serious! Okay, listen. It's Batman! He's your adopted father, he's the one who trained you to the peak of human perfection without the advantage of the speed force of course. I just thought I'd throw that out there. I mean you're just about as good as he is at being a detective and at fighting and at being tricky and sneaky and scary (and I mean this in a good way of course). You don't remember that I was helping you on your stakeout cuz Batman had to go visit his girlfriend or something? You didn't tell me exactly why but I figured it must be cuz Zee was ovulating." Wally informed him proudly. He had decided not long ago that he would start honing his detective skills as well so that Dick would not have to carry the whole load by himself.

"What?" Donna and Dick both asked simultaneously.

Dick was still confused.

Donna burst out laughing. "Batman is not going to leave a stakeout to go make a baby! You are crazy! I love it!"

Nightwing was still scratching his head in bewilderment, "So what does he look like?"

Donna was about to answer but Wally was just getting warmed up. "Well, he's pretty tall. He's probably about eight feet. He as a pointy head and chin. He loves to wear poke a dots. He can be very nice but he can also be extremely focused. Sometimes he talks like he's constipated. Sometimes he growls like an angry dog. He can be kinda scary but he has a hot magic girlfriend that makes him smile and makes him come home for baby making sessions. So you know he's ultimately pretty cool."

Nightwing was glaring at Wally. "Yeah, right."

"Well, I may have exaggerated a little. I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually seen him wear poke a dots," Wally admitted with a grin.

Donna couldn't stop laughing. She finally got control and saved Nightwing from yelling in frustration

"Batman is dark haired like you, he's taller, like six-four. He's very serious. Doesn't smile much and when he does it's usually kinda creepy like when Artemis smiles. But when you see him smile at Zatanna, it makes you think he's the most handsome and sweetest man in the world. He's maybe the only person I know that can fight better than you without superpowers. He's super self confident and pushes everyone to be at their best all the time. But when it comes to you he always brags that you are already better than him. But I don't think he would ever say that to you. Any of this ringing a bell? Took you in when your parents were killed, trained you to fight? Wears black and grey? Blue eyes? Super smart? Rich? Mansion? Cave?"

"Bruce!" The memories suddenly hit Nightwing like a flood. Everything was coming back. Finally the reason Bruce had left in the first place and why he had asked Wally to help him out returned as well.

"I haven't talked to Bruce for the last several days! He hasn't tried to contact me at all! Something's wrong and I don't like it. That wasn't mind control. That was something else. I'm guessing he's in serious trouble. We have to go find him." Nightwing was having trouble keeping it together as he worried over his mentor and friend.

"No problem, we'll be there in a short hot moment." Wally promised as he went over to the teleporter and set it for three.

"No. we can't all go. At least one of us has to stay here and watch Roy. Why don't you just send me and you two stay here?" Nightwing requested.

Wally nodded and tried again. Nothing happened.

Nightwing smacked his forehead. "Well, that was stupid. He's got it set up so that no one can teleport into the cave or the house. I'll have to get there the old fashioned way."

"You two go. I'll stay with Roy. Let me know what's going on and come back as soon as you can," Donna volunteered.

"Okay. Deal," Nightwing agreed.

"I don't like that idea at all." Wally complained as he thought of Donna being in the same room alone with Roy.

"Roy isn't going to do anything. It's not like he could beat me up or anything." Donna pointed out.

Wally reluctantly agreed and sped off with Nightwing.

Star City

Evening Before Clark's Birthday

Ollie lay on his back. He was exhausted and happy. Little Ollie had never worked so hard. He had never been worked so hard. Megalina, he called her Meg for short, was finally satisfied. But it had taken him four hours to satisfy her. She was definitely a little too much for him. While she was not physically as powerful as Maxima or Wonder Woman, she was still on a whole other level of power than he was. She had actually had to stop riding him for fear of crushing both his hips and the most precious member of his anatomy.

Ollie had noted the look of frustration in her eyes and realized that she had taken it extremely easy on him the first couple of times they had slept together. Ollie had immediately pleased her with his hands and mouth. This had worked beautifully. She had been satisfied but had nearly broken his neck while in the throes of ecstasy. Finally satisfied she had lain passively while he entered her and reached his climax. Still in her passive state she had very nearly crushed him with a sudden involuntary squeeze at the moment of his release.

He lay on his back now. He was exhausted, happy, scared, grateful to still be alive and determined to ask Meg for help.

It was an hour later before he found the strength to sit up and speak. Meg listened to his theory. She seemed to agree that there was something wrong with the princesss Maxima, she also agreed to help him but she suggested at the same time that they no longer be intimate. He was a bit too fragile for her.

Ollie was both hurt and relieved at her suggestion. She did not kiss him good-bye but promised to help him on the morrow when he showed up at the Watchtower. With one last smile she shimmered and disappeared as she was teleported away.

Ollie got up, dressed gingerly and made his way down to the lobby. His driver picked him up and drove him to the airport where his private jet was waiting. He boarded and sat down.

The captain came back and smiled. "We received your message, sir. We are ready to depart for Gotham whenever you wish."

"Then let's go." Ollie was surprised at how close to a squeak his voice sounded. It would definitely be in his best interest to never again try sex with a woman so much more powerful than himself.


	27. Chapter 27

The Birthday Present

Chapter 26

Axe Murderers, Boinking, Lightening. Well, You Get The Idea.

Night Before the Birthday Party

******Gotham City******

Gotham City Airport

Ollie walked down the steps from his private jet somewhat gingerly. His chauffer met him in the airport lobby and escorted him to a waiting limo. Ollie got into the back hugging his briefcase to himself. "We're going to Wayne Manor," he instructed the driver as he got in.

The chauffer nodded and took off.

Ollie was sore. Almost scary sore, but it was more like a very strenuous workout sore. This of course, made him feel very happy, if not frisky. The soreness prevented him from being frisky while at the same time caused him to almost strut with satisfaction.

He was always happy after he had sex. That was nothing new. What gave him the little extra strut was the fact that he'd had sex with a super powered woman and he could still walk. He had survived. Sure, he had been kicked out of the League for the foreseeable future. Yes, he had almost been made into a pile of putty by Superman and he had most definitely nearly lost Little Ollie a little while ago, but the way he figured it, with the exception of his mistake with Superman, the sex had been worth it all. He was pretty sure that none of the other guys had ever done anything like that.

After thinking along those lines for a few more minutes his smile dropped briefly. Hal had done it before, with some hot Sorceress. He couldn't remember her name, but he did remember him saying she was Kryptonian.

Ollie thought that was messed up. He wasn't an expert on magic but he had always thought that Kryptonians and magic just didn't mix. Course Hal had his power ring, so he could encase himself in a super, will powered body condom and not worry about having any of his important parts crushed by a happy, super powered partner. He would just always have to make sure that he was concentrating on the task at hand and that his ring was fully charged.

Pictures of Hal's ring giving out right at the moment of the "happy squeezing" brought the smile back to Ollie's face along with an involuntary chuckle. This moment of laughter quickly disappeared when he remembered seeing him with Dinah. He made a fist a couple of times, but then reminded himself that it was his fault he had lost her. As much as it hurt his ego, he understood Dinah leaving him. What really bothered him was Hal, his friend, stepping in and taking his place.

Ollie's mind cleared as his chauffer pulled up in front of Wayne Manor. Now he had to focus on something other than sex for a while. He knew it wouldn't be difficult. He doubted anything would get Little Ollie excited for at least another few days. Bruce had to know what was going on. The way he figured it, Diana was in trouble and if Diana was in trouble from someone with a magic lasso then Superman was in trouble as well. And if Superman was in trouble, then they were all in serious danger. An angry Superman was very scary. A Superman gone bad was a whole other level of scary. It made Ollie feel an involuntary chill.

Ollie tried to jump from the car and run up the steps to the house, but his sore muscles protested and his sprint quickly turned into a limping skip up the steps to the front door.

******Wayne Manor******

Flash and Nightwing stood just inside the front door of the mansion. Neither liked how quiet it was. Not that it was unusual for the manor to be quiet. It was generally so, but this was different. There was no music playing in the distance, no piano from the library, no sound of footsteps, no dishes, no conversation going on in the distance. It was an unnatural and ominous quiet.

"We have to find them," Nightwing said in an involuntary whisper.

Wally nodded. "Okay, found them. Bats and Zee are in their room in bed and Alfred is sitting in a chair facing the bed. And you know what? I think that is way beyond kinky weird. It's actually kinda gross. Bats lets Alfred watch them do the horizontal mambo? I woulda never figured him for that kind a guy. Why would they do that? Is he sorta like waiting his turn or something? Does Zee like that sorta thing? They ever asked you to watch them or tag team or anything like that?"

Dick slapped Wally on the back of the head. "That's for being stupid. No, they don't do that. Alfred is not a pervert and neither is Bruce or Zee. Something's wrong. Let's go see what it is."

Wally rubbed his head as he followed Dick up the steps. "You know that really hurt, but I coulda dodged it real easy if I'd been looking at you when you slapped at me. I was just being nice cuz I feel sorry for you. Having your dad be stuck in bed with a hot lady like Zee is really sad and having Alfred watching them is even sadder."

Dick would have broken out into an uncontrollable grin if he hadn't been so afraid of what he would find when he reached the room. "Would you stop going on about that. I told you something is wrong. And I didn't slap at you. I went and slapped you, and if you don't stop I'm gonna start slapping at you again. You can go ahead and dodge me all you want but we both know that when you're sleeping you don't do any dodging and if you keep talking stupid I'm gonna slap you til you are."

Wally just grunted as he followed Nightwing up the stairs. As they came to the first landing there was a loud knock at the front door. The two froze in their tracks and stared at each other for a moment.

"It's really late. Who do you think it is? Does Alfred have a girlfriend? Do you think it's somebody with an axe or something?" Wally asked.

"I don't know who it is? I don't have x-ray vision. Why don't you go look?" Dick suggested.

"Me? Why me? You want me to die?" Wally looked hurt.

"You're not gonna get hurt, Wally. You move faster than lightening! If there's somebody out there with an axe you would take them out before they knew what hit them! Stop being so melodramatic. Go look. I'm right behind you," Dick hissed.

"Sorry, it must be this haunted mansion. It's so quiet and then there's the kinky stuff going on upstairs. It just sorta weirded me out is all. Okay. Nothing to worry about. It's just Ollie. He doesn't have an axe, just a briefcase. I think he wants to come in," Wally responded.

Dick grinned despite himself. "You think? Wonder what he wants? Last I knew he was in deep poo doo with Supes and the League. And stop acting like a scaredy cat. We both know you're not really scared. Did you let him in?"

"Nope. Not my house. Just wanted to make sure he didn't have an axe. I don't care how powerful you are, a guy with an axe is always creepy. Want me to let him in?" Wally asked then blurred.

Dick found himself looking at Ollie dressed in a business suit and holding a briefcase. He was staring back at him oddly, as if he were about to be sick. He seemed to get control of himself and then he glared at Wally.

"You know, you should warn a guy before you yank him off his feet and move him at ungodly speeds all over creation. You're lucky I'm not a psychopath with an axe or a bat, cuz I'd be swinging it right about now. I do have some sticky arrows. Go ahead and do that again and see if I don't sticky arrow your feet to the floor, Twinkle Toes," Ollie warned Wally.

Wally looked back and forth from Ollie to Dick somewhat nervously.

Dick interrupted the silent conversation. "What are you doing here, Ollie? Bruce doesn't have time for you right now and frankly, neither do I. Something is wrong. Something happened to Bruce and Zee and Alfred and we have to help. So if you're here to just hang out and stare at Zee's legs, tonight isn't a good night."

Ollie looked hurt. "No! Listen! I didn't know anything had happened to Bruce, but I know something is happening or already happened to Big Blue and Diana. I came by to tell Bruce and ask for help. If Supes goes bad we're all in big trouble."

"So you mean something other than you happened to Supes?" Nightwing asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, something a lot worse than me; I have no idea what, but I know its bad magic and bad magic is very bad." Ollie was all business now.

"Alright, but if I even smell you getting the idea to hit on Zee or if you start talking about all your floozy girls instead of focusing on what's wrong, you're out. Do we understand each other?" Nightwing asked.

"Don't hit on Zee. Don't talk about any of my hot girls. Focus on the problem at hand. Focus. Got it. Let's go. I don't think we have much time," Ollie agreed.

Nightwing sensed his sincerity without further interruptions the three entered the room.

******Smallville******

Kent Farm

Lois stood on the porch staring through the screen door of the farmhouse. She felt a little nervous standing there. It had been a while since she had visited her in-laws. She couldn't think of a good reason why. They had always been good to her.

It was work more than anything, but it was also a strong aversion to farm life. She didn't like the smells or the dirt. She preferred concrete sidewalks, busy streets, subways, trains and the constant bustle. It was what she had grown accustomed to once her father had finally settled.

Lois knew that if she were ever to grow to like farm life it would be because of the Kents.

"Hello, Lois, sweetheart."

Lois looked up to see Martha standing inside the screen door smiling at her. She smiled back. "Clark told you I was coming, didn't he? He was going to meet me here."

"Yes. He called us yesterday after you two talked. He's not here but I'm sure he'll be here soon. Sounded like quite a disaster over in the Pacific that he and Diana averted," Martha reassured her.

Lois seemed to perk up at the mention of Clark and Diana. "Yes, they are quite good at averting disasters." She changed the subject in the same breath. "I'm so excited for Clark's birthday! He's gonna have the greatest birthday he's ever had and it's going to start tonight." She was grinning now and with a faraway look in her eyes.

Martha noted the look and worried remembering what Clark had told her and Jonathon about the ordeal that she had gone through. "Come in and sit, dear. Clark will be here any moment."

Martha opened the screen door and gently pulled Lois in and led her to the couch. "It's going to get ugly outside. Looks like a bad lightening storm is coming. I don't like those. Hope Clark beats the storm…"

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Lois." Clark stood at the bottom of the stairs grinning at them. He was in cut off shorts and a tee shirt. His glasses were gone. Anyone seeing him for the first time would have had no doubt he was Superman. His features and physique were unmistakable.

Martha and Lois were both smiling. "Happy Birthday!" They both said it simultaneously and enthusiastically.

Clark walked over to his mother and wife and embraced them warmly, his very intimate moments with Diana already forgotten in the fog of Circe's spell. He pulled Lois closer for a moment more. "It's not my birthday yet. That's tomorrow."

"Yes, but we probably won't see you tomorrow. You always seem so busy on your birthday since you took on the responsibilities of Superman," his mother scolded him.

"I'll stop by if I can. It can't possibly be crazy for my birthday every year," Clark tried to reassure her.

"Oh, no. Something tells me Clark is going to be quite busy tomorrow. I doubt any of us will see him," Lois smiled mischievously.

Martha was quite confused by the, "any of us see him" part. She wondered what Lois was talking about. It didn't help that Clark's reaction to Lois was just a simple smile. The kind of smile that says, "Not sure what you're talking about, but whatever you say."

"Hate to leave my two favorite ladies like this but I want to go check on dad and give him a hand. It's already dark out there." He stooped and gave Lois a kiss on the lips then zipped out of the house.

Lois stood there smiling for a moment more then turned to Martha. "I'm going to go wait for Clark in the barn if you don't mind. I want to sort of surprise him."

Martha blushed understanding what she meant and nodded. "You be careful, dear. It's getting nasty out there. Remember, Clark's invulnerable to the elements but you aren't."

Lois nodded, gave Martha a hug and walked out to the barn.

She made her way up to Clark's loft. She had always wondered how he could get used to such smells. She had only been in his barn a couple of times but those had been enough for her. Now with his birthday only hours away and her newly acquired voracious appetite, she was willing to brave the smells of his barn to spend time with him.

She stood at the top of the steps staring at his little space and marveled that he had been so content with such few and old things. There was a large couch, a telescope, a desk, some books and tools and a small open diamond shaped window. She thought it looked very Clark, but not very Superman.

Curious she began to explore what little he had in his place of solitude. Opening the desk drawer she found a box with a large ring. The ring had a very bright red gem in it. She thought it looked a lot like some of the kryptonite crystals she had seen in the past except the color was wrong. She tried the ring on for size and giggled at how loosely it fit her.

"So you're here to surprise me?"

Lois heard the quiet, deep voice and turned seductively. "Yes. I wanted to give you an early birthday present. I figured since you spent so much time up here when you were younger that you should add "hot sex" to your barn memories."

Clark zipped forward already only in his boxers. He embraced Lois gently. "Sounds very good to me…"

Lois was kissing his chest as she snaked her hands up to tangle her fingers in his hair. She didn't notice his eyes go red as the ring on her hand made contact with him. Lightening struck just outside the barn as Clark lowered her onto a blanket that Lois had not noticed before. She wondered if he had brought it with him.

She found herself stripped rather quickly and sighed happily as Clark's lips traveled her body torturing her senses and preparing her for their joining. She cried out her first release and moaned softly as he entered her. She was a bit surprised at his unusual aggressiveness. Due to his girth, he was always careful and made sure she was more than ready and wet before he ever attempted to enter her, and there had never been a time she had not been allowed to control the pace.

For the first time she felt scared. He was not being rough and she was certainly ready but he already had her impaled and was thrusting with much more vigor than she was accustomed to from him. Feeling his size, power and energy caused her to tremble slightly in fear.

He smelled her fear and held himself still while nibbling on her neck. She melted then and moaned out her fear and pleasure. The moan quickly turned into a scream as a bolt of lightening struck her clutching, ringed hand. The bolt traveled through both their bodies. As suddenly as the pain had engulfed her it was forgotten. The two found themselves moving against each other with wanton abandon while all around them the lightening storm continued. While she was crying out her fourth attack of pleasure and Clark was crying out his release they were once again struck by lightening.

When Clark came to his senses the morning was just dawning. The sky was still grey and they lay outside the barn out of sight from the house. Clark was underneath Lois. He had mud all over him and she was barely covered with the blanket he remembered having taken to the barn for their little escapade. He recalled the change in his body that only happened when he touched red kryptonite and wondered how it had happened. Then he saw the ring laying a little distance from them.

With that mystery solved he also remembered taking Lois in a rather aggressive fashion and panicked. But her body was warm no bones were broken. She seemed normal and none the worse for wear. For a moment he wondered if he had lost his powers but then his eyes fell on the kryptonite ring again and he remembered the lightening. It had only happened to him with green kryptonite before but he figured it could and must have happened with the red as well.

He stood up cradling the still sleeping Lois to himself and floated back into the barn. He laid her on his couch, and then zipped off to shower. When he returned she was still fast asleep.

Stooping, he kissed her awake. Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled down at her. "That was a great birthday present. But that was kind of dangerous too. What made you think to try the red ring? Sometimes I get a little too aggressive. I might have hurt you."

Lois just looked up at him completely confused. She sat up slowly and winced. "Ouch. My whole body aches! Like we…" she looked down at herself and then up at Clark incredulous. "No, way! You actually climaxed last night! How did we do that? Were you without your powers? I feel like this is supposed to be my birthday present!"

Lois stood up from the couch rather quickly, but then winced as her sore muscles protested. "Careful, Lois. I think that you were super powered last night." He went on to explain about the ring and the lightening. Lois just listened quietly for a moment. So all this time, all we had to do to have serious fun together was me put on that ring and wait for lightening to hit us both? And you couldn't tell me about that option?"

Clark's face went serious. "I wasn't about to gamble with your life to see if it would work. Who can predict what lightening will do. You could have just as easily been killed."

Lois made a face. "Fine, point taken. You care more for my well being than having super sex with me. I get it. Oh, I need to shower. I smell like sex and barn and I don't like that mix."

Clark chuckled, scooped her up and flew her to his shower. "Don't be such a brat. We had fun last night. I'll work on a way to duplicate that, but I'm not going to chance you getting hurt by lightening again so that we can have that kind of fun. I'd rather you were alive than deep fried."

Lois just sighed and hugged him as he washed her. "I'm sorry. I just get so frustrated about not being able to please you like you need and like I can with anyone els…" Lois caught herself and turned red. "You know what I mean. Anyways, you always have Diana or Maxima. They are both very willing and able to satisfy you. I really think you should take advantage of their willingness especially on your birthday. We both know that you are very good at pleasing but sometimes you need to be pleased as well. We both need this. You know I'm right."

Clark didn't like where conversation was going, but when he heard the word's Diana and Maxima something strange happened. He seemed to lose focus for a moment but it was not for long. The characteristic warmth was missing from his eyes. Lois did not notice the subtle change, but then Lois had not been herself in the last several days either.

Done with bathing his wife, Clark wrapped her in a towel and flew her to his room.

Lois kissed him. "Time for you to go. Your birthday party is about to start."

Clark nodded, "See you later." And he was gone.

"Have a very happy birthday, Clark" Lois sighed. She sat down on the bed looking for her phone. She remembered she left it downstairs on the couch. She would get it later. She was very tired. Her chest felt a little sore. All of her muscles ached. As she lay back on the bed she absentmindedly rubbed her chest and fell asleep with a smile on her face and the faces of two different men that seemed to merge into one, in her mind.

******Watchtower******

Circe waited patiently. She knew that both Wonder Woman and Superman would be showing up soon. All that could be dealt with had been. She only worried about the Hawks, the Flash and Supergirl.

She had decided that she would have to turn the Flash into a pig. Turning him into an animal seemed to be the only way to control him. She didn't have access to any of Ares pets at the moment. She could not show her hand directly or the gods and goddesses would discover her and punish her worse than before. She could not risk that.

The Hawks would be more difficult. They could resist her magic and mind control, to some extent, but now that she was in the body of the warrior princess Maxima, she not only had her sorcery, but fighting skills, telekinetic and psychic powers, and super strength as well. So she did not believe they would be too much of a problem.

And then there was Supergirl she would need to deal with her as soon as possible…Circe smiled. Supergirl was teleporting in already. She would get the most powerful of her dilemmas out of the way before anyone showed up.

Kara stepped off the tele-porter pad. It was a bit early but Diana, Flash, J'onn and Batman nearly always beat her to Kal's parties. She was not surprised to see Maxima present, but she thought it odd that she was the only one there.

"Hi, Maxie. You gonna try and give my cousin another kiss?" She greeted her teasingly.

"Oh, yes, but not today. Today he's gonna be quite busy with the Amazon princess," Maxima shot back.

Kara looked at her oddly. Maxima was always blunt, but she wondered where that came from. "You okay, Maxie? You seem to be giving up awful quick on my cousin. Don't get me wrong. I think it's the right thing for you to step back for Diana, but I don't think that's gonna happen either. He's sorta taken for the time being. But what's this about you kissing him, again?"

Maxima had strolled over to her in a non-threatening manner. When she was close to her she lashed out with a psychic attack bringing Kara to her knees.

Kara heard Maxima speaking, but the voice was not Maxima's. The words were unintelligible to her but sent a chill through her body as she felt the awful pull of dark magic overpowering her mind and will.

"Don't worry, Supergirl. I'm not going to kill you. I don't care about you one way or another, but I can't have you warning anyone one or ganging up on me at the last minute. I think it best if you went to your room and slept for a while. I will wake you if and when I need your help." Circe gloated. The Kryptonians were so easy. She had thought the female would have put up more of a fight but then she had taken her completely by surprise.

She smiled triumphantly as the young heroine stood and made her way docilely to her room. She would come in quite handy if there were some kind of last-ditch attack from the heroes.

Looking at the tele-porter her smile of triumph grew ten fold. The Princess had arrived as had Superman. She watched as their eyes met. There was hunger there. The princess had the look of a devoted love slave. It made her almost laugh. Superman was obviously lost to her as well but she was pleased to an aggressive possessiveness about his demeanor. She had never seen him look so desirable or dangerous. The closer he drew to the Princess the more hers he became.

She moved over to them. They were touching now. Superman's eyes glowed red.

"Diana. You will go with Kal-El to his Fortress and be his willing plaything for the next three days. Is that understood?" Circe stared hard at the hated princess.

"Yes." Came the weak reply.

Circe turned to Superman. "You will do as you please with her. No need to be gentle. She will not be with us for much longer in any event. Bring her back to me in three days and we will finish my plan. Do you understand Kal-El?"

"Yes." Superman responded never taking his hungry eyes off of Diana.

"Good. Go. I have things to do. We want to avoid any company arriving before you leave," She instructed.

Superman scooped up the very willing Diana, moved to a tele-porter and in a breath the two were gone.

A/N:

I seem to be apologizing more and more lately. I know it has been a tremendously long wait in between updates. I have not forgotten about the story nor been lazy in writing it. Just been extremely busy with personal life and unable to sit and write for any good length of time. Have to put my family first.

This story is rapidly approaching its conclusion. There will be at least two more updates in the next four weeks and the following chapters should follow much more quickly than has been the case lately. For all those following this story and patiently or impatiently waiting I want to thank you for reading, and a very special thanks to those who take time to give me feedback. It's always nice to know what someone likes or even doesn't like sometimes as well

See you all next chapter!

19


	28. Chapter 28

The Birthday Present

Chapter 27

The Gift That Heated Up An Arctic Fortress

Okay, so let's set the mood with a little love poem. If you need a reference, you can read this to the tune of "Papa Loves Mambo" heh heh.

_**We're gonna hanky panky, Yeah!**_

_**Why don't you just spank me, Yeah!**_

_**Now we're gonna try it on my bed, Mmmm Hmmm!**_

_**My, that's a tasty spread, Mmmm Hmmmm!**_

_**It's so good, how could this be wrong, What!**_

_**Our bodies are singing their own song, What!**_

_**Baby, you know you're just fine, Whoa!**_

_**Let's just keep letting our bodies entwine, Whoa!**_

_**Life before you now seems fairly lame, Wow!**_

_**Our lives are never gonna be the same, Wow!**_

_**For a minute there I thought I was dreaming, Oh no!**_

_**But I can see that we're still steaming, Oh yeah!**_

Okay, now I'm going to temporarily break the mood. If you need to get back into the mood at the appropriate time, then scroll back up to this point before reading the um, never mind. Do whatever you like as you read this.

******Wayne Manor******

It was early morning. Ollie, Wally and Dick were at a loss as to how to help Bruce, Zatanna and Alfred.

It was Wally who finally hit on an idea. "Alfred must be affected like you were, Dick. We just gotta jump-start his memory."

Dick nodded. "Let's try it. Maybe he'll remember something that will help us."

Wally turned to Alfred. "Do you remember seeing a gorgeous, naked woman running around the mansion shouting, 'Wally! Wally! I want Wally! Gimme Wally!' or anything similar to that?"

Dick elbowed Wally hard in the ribs.

"Owww! Alright! I just thought I'd ask. You never know. Sheesh! Okay, let me try again. Alfred? Do you remember anything that happened to Zee or Bruce? Or were you busy baking cookies, texting your girlfriend, making breakfast, washing dishes. Stuff like that?" Wally asked as he glanced nervously at Nightwing.

"Dishes," Alfred muttered. His mind was wrestling against the weak spell that had not allowed him to remember or act decisively since Zee's attack or Bruce's return. The word, dishes, drove a ray of light through the fog that smothered his memory.

"Dishes," he repeated. "I was cleaning up after breakfast. I was cleaning the dishes...the door!" The awful details suddenly came flooding back.

"Mistress Zatanna went to the door. She insisted. Someone very powerful attacked her. I heard a woman's voice. Mistress Zatanna spoke to her as if she knew her."

Ollie jumped in rather excitedly. He had decided that he liked detective work. "A woman? A woman attacked Zee? It's Maxima! It has to be Maxima! She took Diana's lasso before we could even get to the heavy petting part of our get together! Then she tied me up with a different lasso! It was super evil cuz it made me super horny but I couldn't get any. Can you believe that? She wouldn't give me any! The woman is definitely crazy and evil and needs to be stopped." Ollie looked around for sympathy. Not getting any he continued, "She did something to my mind. I think she was trying to make me kind of stupid and useless but I don't think she put much oomph into it. Since I refused to make out with her I think that sort of messed with her mojo and ego and so she couldn't concentrate and she decided to just leave."

"Yeah, I think she did make you kind of a lot stupid. First you say she wouldn't give you any; now you say that you wouldn't give her any. She was messing with your mind and she wanted Diana's lasso, end of story. That has to be it." Nightwing replied somewhat impatiently.

Wally was thinking furiously. "It can't be Maxima. She can be crazy, but she isn't evil. It's Circe. Somehow it's Circe. I was there when she got pulled into the knife. She swore vengeance and that she would see us all very soon. I think she's using Maxima somehow. We need to find Diana's lasso and the dagger if we're gonna beat her."

Ollie shrugged his shoulders. Wally made sense but it didn't sound as good to him as his story. In Wally's story Maxima wasn't trying to make out with him.

Nightwing stared at Wally impressed. "You know, so many of us, let alone the bad guys, take you for granted. You're just a fast goofball. We forget that your mind is as quick as the rest of you. You'll make a detective yet. Your uncle was right. You are very smart. I'm always impressed with how fast you are able to figure things out. Sure it helps that you can think at super speed, but I suspect you would have figured it out even if you didn't have any twinkle toe powers. But now that we know its Circe, how do we free Zee and Bruce? I don't think we would get very far trying to take the dagger or lasso from Circe especially if she's in Maxima's body. She as tough as Diana and Big Barda."

Wally grinned and his head seemed to swell to twice its normal size at the compliment. "I know. So many of the ladies say that to me. Sometimes they'll call me and give me a few clues to some personal mystery or problem just to see how fast I can figure it out. Or they'll say, 'Wally! You're so smart! You're as smart as you are cute!" stuff like that. You ever have anything like that happen to you, Dick?"

Dick shook his head. "I never learn. Sorry, I take it all back. Wally! How in the world did you figure that out? It must be a fluke. We all know that your mind is too slow to put things together."

Dick grinned as Wally seemed to deflate a bit. "Ah, perfect. Your swollen head is shrinking back down. I only hope that it will stop once it reaches normal size. Don't want it to continue shrinking forever. That would be gross and look really weird."

Wally looked serious again. He was staring at Zatanna's hands. "We just need to help Zee. She can help Bruce."

Seeing what Wally was looking at, Dick realized instantly what he was talking about. "Zee can't see or hear or talk, but she can still use her hands!"

Wally's body seemed to blur for a moment. The next moment he was standing next to Zee placing a pen and notepad in her hands.

Zatanna's mind had been left intact, imprisoned in her body. She had wanted something to write with but had not been able to communicate what she needed. Now, feeling the precious objects in her hands she smiled as she began writing, "seye, htuom, srae eb denepo. Kaerb eerf fo s'ecric lleps!"

The results were instantaneous. Zee stood up and hugged Wally tightly. "I'm back! Thank you so much, Wally!"

She hugged Dick, Alfred and Ollie as well but she had to almost shove Ollie away since he wouldn't let go.

"What? I'm just really happy you're okay! That's all! Good grief!" Ollie grumbled.

"Well, you can be really happy without your hands groping and wandering!" Zee snapped, and then she rolled her eyes. The man would never change. She turned away focusing on Bruce. She could hear Ollie protesting as Wally and Dick gave him an earful and apparently left him with a couple of 'charlies' on his arms.

She sat on the bed next to Bruce. Holding both of his hands, she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead then smiled softly. "You came racing back to rescue me, didn't you?" She whispered touching his face, "It's very true what you say about emotions, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Without it, we wouldn't have friends or fall in love and I'm very in love with you."

Zatanna straightened then and spoke her simple but powerful spell. "eb elohw ni dnim dna ydob. Rebmemer lla."

Bruce continued to sleep peacefully.

Zee nearly panicked.

"I'm afraid that is my doing. I sedated him to avoid him injuring himself or us. His mind, though under a powerful spell, was struggling violently to be free," Alfred confessed.

Everyone relaxed.

Zatanna spoke once more, "ecurb, eb desnaelc fo sgurd."

Bruce's eyes opened. Everyone was relieved to see that he looked very sane as he sat up staring at Zatanna. "You beat her." He was actually smiling.

Dick cleared his throat, "Um, Bruce? There's kind of a crowd here in your room. Just saying, in case you were gonna start with the, 'you rescued me!' make out session or something. You were also smiling just now. Thought I'd point that out."

Bruce and Zatanna stood up somewhat weakly. Having spent most of the last several days in bed had sapped them of strength. Bruce cleared his throat, gave Dick a look then spoke up. "Right. We have a lot to do. Circe has somehow possessed Maxima, and she'll be after Diana and Clark. She told me when she attacked me earlier. We have to alert them as soon as possible. She intends to put her plan into action on Clark's birthday. Whatever she has planned for them, we know it will be nasty."

"Aw, crap! We're too late! It's his birthday already!" Wally realized in a panic. "We have to go now!"

Bruce stared hard at Wally. "How long have I been out? A week?" he asked incredulously already knowing the answer given how weak he felt.

"Yes. A week," Dick answered lamely. "But in our defense, Circe was messing with our minds as well."

Bruce was instantly all business and in charge. "Then Wally's right. We need to act now. We have to assume the worst. That it's just us against her and maybe against Clark. We'll have to work together. If she has Clark under her control he won't be acting at full power or with all of his wits. He'll be fighting to regain control of himself. That will work to our advantage."

Bruce continued, "Zee, we need you to take on Circe for sure. Wally. You will have to deal with Clark. Just keep him occupied. You're the only one fast enough to handle him. Zee could probably help but we need her full attention on Circe."

Wally opened and closed his mouth, smiled, frowned, became frightened, swelled with pride and finally just ended up looking rather nervous.

Batman turned to Ollie and Dick. "Dick. You, Ollie and I have to find Diana's lasso. It's the only way to free Clark and we need to find the dagger. I think it will probably be the only way to take down Circe and save Maxima at the same time. Obviously I'm not at my peak so don't let my slowness hold you back. If something goes down choose the mission over me."

Everyone nodded impressed. Wally raised his hand as if he were in class. Then started talking in a mumble. "Um, I sorta already said that last part. So I guess that makes me sort of part of the detective family or something, right? Oh and another thing. We aren't alone. Donna can help us too! She's dealt with Circe before. Maybe she can help against Circe and that would free up Zee to help me with Big Blue. If Zee can handle him on her own with her magic then that would free me up to find the lasso and the dagger. And I'm really hoping the Hawks can help us too. They never miss Clark's birthday bashes. And J'onn! I hope J'onn's okay! What do you think she's gonna do?"

"Get a hold of Donna then. I don't know what all she has planned, but I know she means to at least kill Diana," Bruce answered grimly.

Ollie decided to speak up. "Listen. I have inside help. Megalina is one of Maxima's bodyguards. She'll help us get on the Watchtower and look for the lasso and whatever else we need. I'll let her know we're coming."

"No. We can't risk betrayal. We have the element of surprise. We can't lose it," Batman responded firmly.

"Well, if she's on Maxima's side then we're already compromised. She knows what I suspect. She promised to help and she knows there's something wrong with Maxima," Ollie admitted.

Bruce stared at him for a minute. "Alright. I guess we have no choice. Too bad we aren't all able to think our actions through. Maybe one day it'll happen. So we are already at serious risk. We still have to try. Watch each other's backs. Be smart. Stay alive. We can do this. We don't go down until Clark and Diana are safe. Failure isn't an option. We fail, our best friends are dead and Circe takes over the planet."

No one was grinning now. The weight of what they needed to do was apparent to all.

Wally quickly contacted Donna.

******Fortresss******

Clark and Diana materialized outside what looked like a solid wall of ice holding onto each other possessively. As they approached the ice wall, Clark spoke his mother's name. The wall instantly opened granting them access within. Once inside, the Fortress again sealed itself from the elements.

Almost as soon as they were safely within the Fortress they were greeted by a familiar, happy growl as Krytpo launched himself at the two, tackling them to the ground. He barked and wagged his whole body as he licked their faces.

The combination of being sealed from the outside as well as Krypto's sudden appearance brought them both a small level of release from the oppressive spell that had controlled them for the whole preceding week, but the smell of sorcery was still strong. Both Diana and Kal petted Krypto, but he was suddenly uneasy. He sniffed Clark and growled nervously. Backing away from his master he touched Diana's lasso and suddenly became aggressive, snarling and growling at both. Diana took a step back from him in shock at his uncharacteristic behavior. Losing contact with the lasso his aggressiveness left him as quickly as it had overtaken him. Sniffing at the lasso, Krypto shook his head in disgust.

Clark was displeased with his behavior and sent Krypto outside to play and give the two of them privacy. The large, loyal, wolf-like dog obeyed reluctantly, whining as he left.

"I wonder what is wrong with him? He did not seem too happy with your smell and he seemed disgusted with my lasso," Diana pondered as she watched him leave. She had grown attached to the big loving animal. At times he seemed more devoted to her than to Kal.

"Not sure. He doesn't normally act like that. We'll see if he keeps growling when I let him back in. Playing in the snow and swimming in the arctic water should chill him out," Clark answered.

Clark touched Diana's chin bringing her full attention back to him. Diana smiled hungrily up at him and felt weak seeing the unbridled hunger in both his eyes and body language.

"You desire your present already? You know that I am yours however and whenever you want me," she offered in willing surrender.

Clark could barely control himself. Her willingness and surrender felt more powerful than a thousand kryptonite crystals. His eyes glowed a very hot red and he scooped her up and made his way deeper into the Fortress. As they passed the center of the living area they entered a part of the Fortress that was displaced. The crystal technology of the Fortress allowed for travel between dimensions and realities and not a small percentage of the Fortress was just that; sitting in another dimension. Diana was in direct contact with her lasso. Clark was so close to it that at times he was touching it. The affects of the lasso were powerful enough to overpower their normal thinking and both continued, lost in their desire for one another. But if entering the Fortress had given them some small reprieve from the oppressive spell of the witch, being in a portion of the Fortress that lay in another dimension freed them from much of the witch's control. For Clark, much of the dark commands and desires were forgotten. He was left solely with his physical desire for his best friend and she for him.

As they entered the living area, Clark stopped and claimed Diana's very willing mouth in a deep and hungry kiss. Time stopped for them both. Their desire for one another had now turned into a tangible ache.

"I was taking you to my room. But I can't wait that long." Clark pressed Diana tightly against his body as his hands easily made themselves familiar with her beautiful curves, caressing her tenderly and affectionately.

Diana felt weak. She wanted Kal desperately; wanted to feel him, taste him, surrender to him, but she also felt fear. It was as if she could almost hear someone calling to her and telling her she was in serious danger. She briefly had a vision of her Kal in a murderous state. The face she saw made a chill run down her spine. She had not realized her eyes were closed until she opened them.

She was glad to find herself still in the arms of her Kal. She sighed as he nibbled on her right earlobe. She leaned her head back against the hand that was caressing and massaging her neck and shivered as his other hand kneaded her bottom possessively. "I know it cannot be true. You would never hurt me. You are always kind and gentle," she breathed out softly.

"Never hurt you," Clark huskily repeated her words back to her.

"I am not afraid. I am never afraid with you," Diana whispered then moaned as her Kal nibbled hungrily along her neck and up to her chin once again claiming her mouth.

They continued kissing for some time losing themselves in the feel and taste of the other. When they finally broke the kiss they kept their foreheads pressed together as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Diana smiled happily. She had not realized how much and for how long she had wanted this. As Kal laid her on the floor she realized that not only was his body warm but the room as well and she lay on a thick carpet-like material. It was white, fluffy, deep and very comfortable. She liked the feel of it on her skin.

She forgot about her surroundings when Kal stopped kissing her and pulled his uniform shirt and cape off. Her eyes became glued to his body. He was broad, thickly muscled and chiseled. He seemed more beautiful to her than any of the gods she had ever seen. She sat up a little just so that she could touch him. She gave him a little smile as if to say, "You are beautiful and you are mine now."

Clark just looked back at her for a moment, his eyes smoldering. He was far from content to just allow her to touch him. He got a squeal from her when he removed the upper portion of her uniform, freeing her round and beautiful breasts. He feasted his eyes on her womanly perfection and pushed her back down capturing one of her erect rose bud nipples in his mouth.

He caressed her neck and massaged her back with his hands while sucking first one nipple and then the other. He started gently and slowly increased the intensity of his attentions until Diana's soft moans of surrender turned into ragged breathing.

When he felt her body heading for her first climax Clark cupped his hand over her sex through her uniform bottom and vibrated his hand against her.

Diana felt her body go into uncontrollable convulsions and she shot up to a sitting position. Her legs closed tightly over his hand involuntarily and she cried out her first orgasm as she clutched tightly to his neck. She didn't know how long the waves of pleasure lasted. She only knew that she felt weaker and that she desired more. She peppered Kal's neck and face with wet kisses. "By the gods, Kal! That was amazing! I would like to do that again," she whispered into his ear.

Kal laid her back down gently and gazed down at the goddess beneath him. "I'm going to give you a lot more," he whispered back.

Diana lay still as he removed her boots and then gasped as he removed her uniform bottoms and looked on in shock and admiration when he stood up and removed his pants and boots. The size and thickness of his manhood was impressive and she wondered how exactly he had ever joined with an earth woman. Before he could kneel back down she got to her knees and kissed away the glistening pearl of arousal that adorned the tip of his manhood and called so enticingly to her. She found his taste to be very satisfying. She kissed down his length and felt a deep pride at hearing the moans that her attentions brought from his lips.

"You taste so good, Kal." She beamed up at him.

He smiled down at her, his eyes dark with desire as he pushed her back down. "That was quite wonderful. Now let me see how you taste."

Diana trembled a little, as he slowly parted her legs exposing her well-groomed sex to his penetrating eyes. He was over her again. Kissing her, caressing her. She lost herself to the feel of his attentions. She felt his kisses traveling down her face to her neck, shoulders and then breasts. She gasped as she again felt the warmth and skill of his mouth and tongue on her breasts and nipples. She had never thought of her breasts as sensitive. She knew that from now on she would always remember his touch and desire his attention.

He was traveling further down her body. He stopped at her navel. There he lavished her with more attention. He lightly bit and kissed her flat stomach, all the while caressing her sides, legs and inner thighs. Her legs were open and his chest was pressed tightly against her sex. It was too much for her. Clutching and clinging to him she was rocked by her second orgasm.

Clark held himself still while her body shook with the waves of her second release. When she was done she smiled shyly and weakly down at him. He smiled back and then moved down to her sex. He had always found her smell to be bordering on delicious. He had never used that word to describe her smell to anyone else. Just now, seeing and smelling her glistening sex, he wondered if there was even a word that could describe how wonderful and exotic and enchanting her smell really was.

He smelled her, savoring the moment and then licked her softly, feeling her body begin to tremble anew and hearing her breathe out a "Great, Hera!" He licked her again and then kissed her intimately giving careful attention to the lips and entrance of her sex before finally capturing her engorged and sensitive bud.

Diana sat up with a scream of pleasure. She wanted to open her legs further to allow him better and deeper access to her sex and she wanted to squeeze her legs together and hold his head in place forever. She ended up doing both. She squeezed tightly and then opened, thrusting her sex against him as he made love to her with his mouth. Her climax seemed to last for a small eternity. When she finally came gasping down, she asked, "Kal. Please do that again. I want to feel that again."

"With pleasure," Kal smiled up at her and then he complied. Diana had thought that there was no way in the world that she would be able to experience a more intense release then what she had just felt. She was wrong. Not having fully come down from her previous climax she began crashing towards her next one as Kal again lavished her sex with his expert tongue and mouth.

Diana found herself clutching Kal's hair and pulling him against her mound as she thrust her hips against him vigorously. She wasn't sure how he was doing it, but he made the second one last longer. It felt deeper and more intense. The feel of his strong warm tongue and lips were like nothing she had ever imagined. The pleasure was so intense she felt she was quickly approaching a point where something would snap. When she finally crashed back to the soft warm carpet she was panting and her body was shaking in the aftershocks of her multiple orgasms.

Kal moved up to her face and kissed her; gently at first and then he deepened it as gained more and more control. "Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded her head slowly as she looked into his eyes. "I know it is going to hurt, but I am ready. I want you."

Kal began slowly caressing her sex with his. He caressed her slowly at first feeling the wetness from her arousal and desire mixing with his own. He continued until she was again thrusting against him. He aligned himself with her glistening entrance and in one swift thrust broke through her barrier and filled her with his length and girth, then held himself still.

Diana tensed and cried out briefly at the sudden painful pleasure. But the pain was brief and she felt herself adjusting to his size filling her so fully. Soon she was again thrusting against him. She moaned and kissed his neck, ears and cheeks in her pleasure. "I am all yours now, Kal. I am yours forever. Happy Birthday."

Kal kissed her tenderly. "I can not think of a lovelier birthday present. This is the best birthday I have ever had. I will always love you, Diana." Still looking into her eyes, he kissed her again and began to thrust. He started moving slowly and only picked up his tempo when he saw that she wanted him to. Soon they found their rhythm and it wasn't long before Diana was again crying out her pleasure. Feeling her body trembling with release and the tight grip of her sex as she climaxed around him was too much and he groaned out his own release, pouring himself into her, triggering another deep wave of pleasure for her.

They lay for a while locked in an intimate embrace. "I do not want this to end. I want more," Diana confessed in a soft whisper.

"We'll be here for a long time. Just you and I. we'll do whatever you desire," Kal promised her.

"No. I will do whatever you desire. It is your birthday and I am your gift," Diana reminded him, panting happily.

"So you are. I'm going to enjoy this birthday immensely." Still connected, he again captured her lips with his and rolled onto his back. "I want to watch your body as you enjoy yourself on me."

Diana's eyes sparkled mischievously at the challenge and she marveled at the power she felt within her and the fact that she was able to take him in completely. She ground her pelvis down onto his, moaning at the feel of being so completely filled with her Kal. As she moaned in happiness she smiled hearing him moan as well.

Placing her hands on his chest and caressing his hard muscles but soft skin she began to move over him, sliding herself up and down his shaft. It was not long before she was picking up her pace, moving with speed and vigor over him. She stopped counting after the third climax hit her. When she felt Kal tensing and tightening and groaning in ecstasy she drove herself down, impaling herself completely on his length and cried out her pleasure as he again exploded within her howling out his own release.

She fell on top of him gasping for breath and laughing with joy at their union. Kal chuckled as well and they soon began to pepper each other with kisses as they prepared to continue to share in their newfound love.

27


	29. Chapter 29

The Birthday Present

Chapter 28

Here are your choices: Make out on an alien world, lose a witch, or get dropped from the sky. I know these are tough choices, but you have to pick one.

******Planet Selvina******

Dinah and Hal sat at the top of a thick, green-grassed hill. Some kilometers to their left grew a large forest. To their right, as far as they could see, was a great stretch of hills, tall grass and a few bubbling streams. Behind them was more of the same but dotted with large trees. In front of them was a large, inland lake. Strange exotic creatures broke the surface of the water rather frequently. The two had just stopped to stare in fascination.

"So, what do you think of this place?" Hal asked smiling.

Dinah tore her eyes away from the lake creatures and looked at Hal. He seemed so happy and he had been a perfect gentleman. She had half expected him to suddenly start aggressively seeking sex from her but he had not once tried to seduce her. Just treated her like a close friend. She knew he wanted her and she knew why he wasn't trying to bed her.

"I think it's beautiful, Hal. It looks dangerous as well. I wouldn't feel safe here by myself. I'm glad I'm with you," she responded sweetly. She found herself looking at his lips. She really liked them. He was an excellent kisser and she liked the memory and feel of his strong arms and lean, hard body against hers the times they had kissed before leaving the Watchtower for their impromptu trip. She wanted to kiss him again.

Hal almost blushed. "Well, as cool as my ring is, I think you would be able to handle yourself just fine with your skills and your scream."

Hal's words triggered an idea of how to aid Hal in shedding his fear and doubts of showing a little more physical interest in her. The two had been friends for several years now. She respected him as a hero, a friend and a man, and with the amount of restraint and consideration he was exercising with regards to her comfort and to touching her, was proof enough for her that he was worth falling in love with. Dinah leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips then stood up. "I love being here with you, Hal, but I just realized something. We haven't really exercised today. I need to spar and you need to learn how to fight a little better. You rely on your ring too much. Come on. Get up. Let's improve your skills."

Hal stood slowly. "Okay, but go easy on me. I just know a few basics; enough to keep me in one piece in a regular non-powered tussle, but not against seriously skilled opponents. Of course, this has never stopped me from jumping into a fight before and believe it or not, I usually end up winning somehow." He was grinning now.

Dinah grinned back. "It's because you're so fearless. You act like you have nothing to lose. I'll tell you what. If you can take me down just once without your ring, I'll let you kiss me."

Hal stared at her for a moment in shock. Then his face broke into a grin. "You're on!"

Hal was determined to win his kiss. He knew Dinah was a highly skilled fighter. She was even better than Ollie and Ollie was pretty good. At first he decided that he would try to use his size, weight and strength to his advantage but after picking himself off the ground for the sixth time he realized that Dinah had to deal with bigger, stronger opponents on a regular basis, so none of his little tricks were anything new to her.

Hal shook the grass off his suit and then looked at Dinah determinedly. She was so beautiful. She was grinning back at him and waiting for him to attack. Not that it mattered if he attacked her or she him. The end result was always the same: Hal Jordan eating dirt; Dinah Lance, smirking in triumph.

"Had enough? Gonna call it quits?" Dinah asked teasingly.

"Oh, no. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve still," Hal replied cockily as he leaped back up into a fighting stance.

Dinah actually felt bad for him. He was impressively strong and in very good shape. He was certainly very pleasing to look at, but he didn't know much at all about self defense. His stance was very bad. He had little sense of balance. He had always relied on his size, attitude or ring to win. He certainly had plenty of each but without his ring he was simply no match for a well-trained, aggressive and determined fighter.

Dinah danced in towards him. She smiled flirtingly at him as she struck lightly at his face. He caught her wrist neatly. That was good. His reflexes worked just fine. She waited until she saw the look of triumph on his face, then she trapped his offending hand with her free hand, spun under his arm while at the same time starting a windmill motion, and Hal once more found himself on the ground. This time he was staring up at the sky.

"You're not going to win your kiss that easily, Gorgeous. You have to work harder," Dinah teased.

Hal sprang back up to his feet. He looked a little embarrassed but even more determined. Dinah liked that. She danced towards him again. His eyes were completely focused on her face. He seemed transfixed to his spot. She could tell he had gone from determined to win at all costs to suddenly just wanting to look at her. She liked the attention. She liked it a lot. But now was the time for teaching her new boyfriend how to defend himself. She struck at his torso and face lightly and quickly, not really trying to hit him but just testing his reflexes, his reactions; trying to see if he could focus on the task at hand. He was defending himself rather sluggishly.

She was somewhat disappointed at his lazy swats as he tried to slap her strikes away. With an annoyed hiss she struck at his face and as he brought both hands up to protect himself she dropped and swept his feet out from under him.

He crashed rather clumsily to the ground, but he was instantly up on all fours, in a panic.

"My ring! It fell out of my pocket just now! I can't see it in this deep grass!" Hal gasped.

Dinah's annoyance changed instantly to concern and she dropped to all fours next to Hal and began looking diligently beside him. Too late, she realized that it had all been a bluff. Before she could regain her feet she found herself face down in the deep grass. Her arms were pinned to her sides and her legs were trapped neatly by Hal's. He had his full weight on her so she could not move. Her immediate reaction to her predicament was panic having been at the mercy of monsters before. But before she could start screaming or thrashing, Hal's triumphant voice brought her back to reality.

"I won! Admit it! You didn't see that one coming! Now I think somebody owes me a kiss." Hal spoke excitedly in her ear. The panic in her gut disappeared and a smile spread across her lovely face. She could feel his arousal brushing against her rear end and she fought to control her own excitement.

Turning her head she smiled sweetly at him and giggled at the triumphant grin plastered across his face. His grin disappeared suddenly and he asked somewhat nervously, "You're not gonna scream in my ear, are you? I won fair and square. I didn't use my ring."

Dinah giggle a little more. "Yes, you did. You used it to trick me, you little cheat."

"Little? I'm not little! I'm six two!" Hal replied with a chuckle.

Dinah again felt the warmth and size of his arousal brushing against her rear. "Well, I guess 'little' was a poor choice of words. You gonna let me up so you can kiss me?"

"I was kinda hoping I could kiss you right here in the grass. It's very soft and comfortable and I don't want to let you go. You feel just right when you're in my arms," Hal replied, almost without thought.

Dinah leaned her head back against his shoulder and whispered huskily, "Just let me turn around. I want to stay here too."

Hal released his hold on her. She turned herself around under him. Their eyes met and Dinah could plainly see the desire burning in his eyes. She happily pulled him back down and captured his hungry mouth in a mind searing and passionate kiss.

All thoughts of sparring or leaving were swept away as the two young heroes lost themselves in each other.

******Watchtower******

Batman, Zatanna, Nightwing, Flash, Donna and Ollie stood nervously in the Monitor Womb. Megalina had just joined them. She was willing to help them look in Maxima's room. That was good news. But she did not know where Maxima had gone and neither Superman nor Wonder Woman was presently on the Watchtower.

"This is bad. It means she's already done something to them!" Wally was in a panic.

"I'm going to kill that witch if anything has happened to Diana!" Donna nearly yelled in helpless frustration.

Batman had moved over to one of the computer command centers. "Locate primary members, Superman and Wonder Woman," he instructed the computer.

The response was an unable to locate.

"Play back video feeds of traffic in and out of the Watchtower for the last twenty four hours." Batman tried another route.

The computer replied with a "Video feeds have been erased."

Now all were feeling extremely nervous for their friends.

"Show me video feeds of the conference room, cafeteria and Maxima's room." Batman was not giving up.

"No video feeds available for specified areas," came the ominous reply.

"She couldn't have known we were coming, could she?" Wally asked.

"I don't think so. She does not fear us. I think she's busy doing something else. But I have no idea what," Batman admitted as he thought furiously. "She seems to already have gotten to Clark and Diana, but she's doing something more. We have to assume they are both alive still. She's arrogant and powerful. She'll have an elaborate plan and she'll want to completely humiliate both Diana and Clark but especially Diana."

"She wouldn't have returned to Themyscira. She would fear the gods discovering her escape and dealing a crueler punishment. She has to be in our plane of existence somewhere. Can we track her or Clark or Diana by their communicators?" Donna asked.

"I've been unable to track Clark or Diana. Let me try Maxima." Batman spoke into the computer again. "Locate Maxima."

"Maxima located. Javelin Bay 3," the computer responded.

Wally blurred for a moment then stood with a beeping communicator in his hand. "This is all that was there but one of the Javelin's is missing."

"Which one was missing?" Batman asked.

"Javelin Seven," Wally responded.

Everyone was leaning forward now as Batman gave the computer the command to locate the missing Javelin.

"Javelin located. Current location planet Selvina," was the response.

Ollie's face clouded over. He remembered his friend mentioning the place to him in the past. Hal had thought it a perfect romantic getaway even though he admitted to never having used it as such. "She's not there. Hal is. The witch is somewhere else."

"Where could she be?" Nightwing wondered what everyone was thinking.

******Forested hills outside of Metropolis******

Max was lost. He was also very hungry. So hungry he had eaten some wild berries and now he felt sick. It didn't help that he had drunk water from a small pond. The combination of the stagnant water and the toxic berries had not only made him sick to his stomach but he was starting to hallucinate as well.

He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or remembering. He thought it was a memory. Not an unpleasant one. He was in a Sunday school class. The teacher was talking about angels. She said that angels protected people and that they were very beautiful, but very masculine, and they were also warriors and fought against the enemies of God.

He had always like his Sunday school teacher. As he had grown older he had stopped going to church or believing in angels or demons. When he did talk about angels or think of them he was generally using the word to describe a very pretty woman or female he was hoping to conquer.

Max found himself sitting down. He wondered how long he had been sitting in the woods. Something smelled very bad. He realized it was himself. There was a gurgling sound not far away. He stood up to investigate and promptly fell on his face and slide further down the hill. When he finally had the strength to lift his head he found he was laying close to a small stream. The water looked clean.

Dragging himself to the edge of the stream, he dunked his head in the water then drank deeply. When he looked up there was an angel standing in front of him. No. The angel wasn't standing. It was floating above the water. His Sunday school teacher had been wrong. Angels were female. And they were beautiful. He wondered if angels were susceptible to mind control. He wanted to have this angel, but he was afraid that he didn't have the physical strength.

He found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the beautiful angel and he thought that even though his teacher had been wrong about angels being masculine she had been right about them protecting people. This angel must have come to rescue him. He liked the idea of being rescued. He had never felt so miserable in his life.

Max realized suddenly that he was floating in the air in front of the angel. Her face and body were very beautiful but her face didn't seem kind. For some reason he had always thought that an angel would have a kind face.

The angel's eyes bore into his. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her and he began to feel nervous.

The look on the angel's face went from serious and curious to one of disgust. Max yelped as he was flung back down to the ground.

He lay there for a moment trying to gather his wits about him. He was afraid now. The beautiful, red haired angel was angry. His Sunday school teacher had told them that angel were also warriors. This angel was most definitely a warrior. He had no illusions about being able to control her now.

He tried to stand up but fell gasping in pain. Both of his ankles seemed to be broken. Looking up he noted that the angel was standing over him. She was speaking.

"I had thought to make a pact with you, since you caused my enemies so much grief. But I see that you are weak. You only want to survive and indulge. You are not capable of saving yourself. You have been beaten by mere mortals. It is best to eliminate you. You do not serve my purposes and you are a pathetic human being." The angel's voice was lovely but dangerous.

Max truly felt afraid. He was lifted up in the air again. He was floating next to the red headed angel. He could feel the air and assumed they were moving. When he was finally able to look down he found that he was very high in the air. He was looking down into a valley. It looked like the bottom was littered with boulders but they looked like pebbles from where he floated next to the angel. She was speaking to him again.

"I think this is a fitting end for such a creature as you. I only regret that I will not have the pleasure of observing the suffering that will be yours in the afterlife, weak little man." The angel was actually smiling now.

It was a smile that brought a chill to his bones. Before he could protest he was falling and screaming. He ran out of scream moments before he landed and was broken by the rocks.

Circe watched for a moment more. Humans were so fragile. But they were amusing at times. She decided that she liked this area of hills and mountains and woods. She would stay in the area until it was time for Superman and the Princess to return. She thought it safer than having to confront too many of the heroes that might show up at the Watchtower and there were the ones she still had not accounted for. She thought especially of the Hawks.

Having made up her mind, she decided to explore the forest a little more.

******Smallville******

Kent Farm

Lois was sitting with Jonathon and Martha at the dining room table. They were sharing a late lunch.

Martha and Jonathon were both concerned. They knew Lois. And this was not the Lois they accustomed too. The fiercely possessive woman they were used to had dropped several hints of having an open relationship with Clark. Something she said they both needed. There were little glimpses of the old Lois when conversation turned to corruption or current events. But she was acting way too carefree about her love life. The fact that she was even bringing it up with them was enough to alarm them let alone her drastic change in moral standards.

She was currently explaining, with a patient smile, that Clark was overdue for an encounter with a woman he didn't need to be careful with physically and she was anxious to meet a certain special someone who had no problem letting go in bed and whom she did not have to fear accidental physical harm from in the process. She was midsentence. It had been something about thrusting in wild abandonment. Something they really had not wanted to hear when Lois suddenly stopped talking and started looking very ill.

With a moan Lois slid from her chair holding onto her head as if it would burst.

Jonathon and Martha were at her side in an instant.

"What's wrong, dear?" Martha asked her gently.

Jonathon looked on ready to dial 9-11 if needed.

"He's gone! The creep that was controlling my mind all this time!" Lois almost shrieked.

Looking up at Martha she broke down into tears. Everything was coming back. She remembered it all. The helpless feeling and the panic that had been hers while trapped in the doctor's office, to her constantly encouraging and pushing Clark to be intimate with Diana. "I just need a few minutes alone, Mom." She sobbed as she stood up and ran up the stairs to the bathroom leaving a very worried Martha and Jonathon in the kitchen.

Lois locked herself in and sank slowly to the floor with her back against the tub, her knees against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Worse than remembering her night with the Green Arrow was the look of rage and betrayal on Clark's face while he hovered just outside the window looking in on them. She would never forget that look as long as she lived.

Lois had always feared growing old while he stayed young. Feared watching as her husband slowly lost interest in her physically. She feared losing the ability to be intimate with him. She feared seeing him fall in love with another woman while she was still alive. All of these fears she had carried around needlessly. She knew her Clark would never betray her willingly. It was Clark who had been betrayed.

Lois suddenly stopped crying. She remembered all the nights and mornings they had been intimate in the past week. Clark had been very eager and considerate as always, but now that her mind was clear she remembered two things. There had been a few occasions where she remembered a look of utter sadness in his eyes and face. Still there had been others where he had seemed to act and behave as a drone. His behavior after there wild intimacy of last night had her seriously concerned. Not only had there been something wrong with her but there was something wrong with Clark as well. Unless it was simply his way of coping with what he had seen.

This thought brought back another fit of tears. She cried quietly for a while until she was sick. She stood up, but felt sick again and she sat down heavily as a bout of nausea swept over her like a sandstorm.

All of a sudden Lois stood up in a panic. Another thought had crossed her mind. It was one she had come to think would never happen to her. The thought that it might have happened truly frightened her. She raced out of the bathroom and into Clark's room and snatched her purse. As she raced back to the bathroom she almost collided with Jonathon and Martha.

"You know that Clark loves you. Something horrible has happened to you and to him apparently. But you'll both work this out. You both took vows. If they have been broken it is obvious that they were not broken willfully. You have to do what is right. Make things right. You'll both have to forgive and ask for forgiveness. Clark will take you back. He's knows what happened. He understands that you are innocent." It was Jonathon talking to her, trying to sooth her. What he said was true and it might have helped her in a small way, but being a man, he made a very common mistake, he continued talking to Lois as she walked slowly into the bathroom. It wasn't so much that he continued talking. His intentions were quite noble, but he continued talking without having first consulted his wife about what he was going to say.

"Sure, he might have been very angry and maybe he sort of went into a fit of rage at one moment, but thankfully Diana arrived when she did. I understand she helped him focus on what was important; on you. Nothing else is more important to Clark than you. You're his wife. He vowed to love you through thick and thin and he does and he will," Jonathon announced proudly. There, he had told his daughter in law what she needed to hear. She would see the light now. She could stop being afraid.

Jonathon was taken aback by the look of horror on Lois' face. The look was mirrored in his wife's face, along with a look of, "please stop talking as soon as possible."

Jonathon did.

It was too late. The damage had been done.

"She's perfect for him! I never understood why he picked me over her! I'm not anything like her! What was he thinking? Was he on some kind of kryptonite that affects logic? That makes you completely irrational? I knew she was in love with him the moment I saw her! She will be around for a very long time! I'm going to grow old and die! What's he going to do when I'm seventy? Eighty? Push me around in a wheelchair when we go out on a date? People will think he's with his great grandmother!" Lois was shrieking all of this from just inside the bathroom. When she finished she took a big sniff and shut the door.

Jonathon was looking at Martha with a look of bewilderment on his face. "Was she just talking about Diana?" he asked Martha completely confused.

Martha just shook her head in exasperation. "Yes, Jonathon. She was talking about Diana. And she was talking about Diana because you brought up her name in your pep talk!"

The light clicked on for Jonathon. "Oh! Okay! That makes sense!" he seemed satisfied with the explanation for a moment but then he scratched his head again in confusion. "Why did she seem so angry though? She definitely seemed angry to me."

Martha just stared back at Jonathon. He couldn't be that clueless. He was very sharp. It must be that he was very nervous. He had never had to deal with a woman snapping. The two of them didn't snap. They didn't throw tantrums. But she couldn't blame Lois. This was something truly tragic and horrible. Before she had gathered her thoughts together well enough to answer him. Lois came back out of the bathroom.

She looked pale. She held up a little plastic device with a couple of blue lines on it for them to see.

Martha recognized it instantly. It didn't take Jonathon much longer. A pregnancy test. Lois always carried one with her everywhere she and Clark went. Since there was no need for protection of any kind she always checked. She knew she couldn't get pregnant from Clark but there was always the chance of a miracle. Women who "couldn't get pregnant" got pregnant all the time. It was certainly something that she considered a possibility.

"I'm pregnant." Lois groaned. "It's true. We've never really used protection. He just didn't believe he could get me pregnant and I've never worried about diseases with him." Lois continued. "Last night something happened. I was temporarily super powered like him. I think that's when it happened."

Jonathon and Martha looked at each other with deep concern.

"I don't think you get sick that fast, honey," Martha offered.

"Well, whatever the case. I'm pregnant." Lois stated as she held up the testing device that showed the very strong blue line. "Now that my life with Clark is coming to an end I find out I'm pregnant."

Silence reigned in the Kent home.


	30. Chapter 30

The Birthday Present

Chapter 29

Don't Do It Supes! That's A Witch That Wants To Make Out With You!

******Fortress******

Clark awoke suddenly. He knew he had to go back to the Watchtower today. He couldn't remember why, but as his eyes fell on the lovely, naked form of Diana snuggled tightly against him, all his concerns and nagging questions fled away and he decided he was in no hurry to do so.

He had never experienced such satisfying lovemaking, nor such unbridled hunger and passion for another. He felt like a new man. He was insatiable. He wanted more.

Her beautiful back was pressed tight against his chest and she slept with a contented smile on her face. She was using his left arm as a pillow. Clark noted with satisfaction that she looked both exhausted and happy. He intended to wake her and exhaust her some more. He had to have more before they returned to the Watchtower. He wasn't sure when the two of them would have another chance to be alone.

He decided to kiss her awake and make love to her at least once before heading back to normal life.

He found that he could not stop smiling as he watched her. He had never felt so right in his life. He simply gazed at her for another moment and then he leaned down and began leaving small, light kisses along her naked shoulder while he allowed his right hand to gently roam her body.

He was rewarded with a contented sigh as she opened her eyes and turned her head to stare dreamily into his. For a moment time stood still as their silent conversation of passion and contentment passed between the two. And then just as suddenly they were fiercely kissing and touching and exploring each other.

"I'm ready," she whispered hoarsely as she thrust herself vigorously against his caressing palm.

"Yes, you are," he affirmed as he touched her intimately.

"What do you want to do to me?" she asked docilely.

"I want you to enjoy yourself," Kal answered whispering softly in her ear as he nibbled gently on her lobe.

"Can I be on top? I want to be on top," Diana asked then demanded with a mischievous grin.

Kal answered by rolling her on top of himself and grinning lustily up at her.

Diana smiled lovingly down at her Kal and began caressing his very hard length with her wet sex. She continued this most intimate of massages for several minutes until both were moaning uncontrollably. It was not long before she was clutching him tightly and bucking ecstatically in her first release of the morning. As she slowly came down from her first morning high she peppered his wide muscular chest with kisses then slowly slid her sex to the tip of his shaft and just as slowly pushed down. By the time she had herself fully impaled she was out of breath.

Before she could begin riding and thrusting, Kal leaned up to give her lovely, free breasts some intimate attention. Diana pushed her chest forward and reveled in the feel of his warm mouth on her nipples and his hardness filling her. After a few minutes of the exquisite torture she pushed him back down, planted her palms on his chest and began to slowly grind herself on him. She continued moving slowly, just enjoying the feel of his hardness filling her so completely.

It was not long before she found herself moving wildly over him and realizing that the cries and gasps of pleasure were her own. His hands were gently touching her at first but now they were gripping her, massaging her in a very possessive manner. She loved it.

More moans and groans. Kal had joined her. With every thrust, with every spasmodic squeeze she gave him she could see and feel him getting closer to his release. She wanted to satisfy him first. She hoped that she could. She found that she had little control over her body when it came to lovemaking with her Kal.

She was so close, but so was he. She heard his groan, the one that shouted imminent release. With a cry of pleasure and satisfaction she moved over him even more wildly gripping and squeezing his hardness in ecstasy.

She felt him stiffen and swell even more and then with a loud groan he exploded sending her over the edge with him.

Diana collapsed onto Kal's chest. Her breath came in ragged, happy gasps and she was pleased to hear his heart racing as well as the two of them came down from their climax.

They fell asleep again. Then woke up and made love again. This was repeated several times with lots of whispering and kissing in the in between moments. Finally they got up and bathed. This of course did not curb their appetite for one another. It was well after noon before the two were dressed and prepared for the day.

Diana had never been happier. She had loved her friend for a long time and she knew that he loved her as well, but Kal's tenderness, passion and voracious appetite had her floating on air.

They walked into the living area holding hands and on to the kitchen. After they had eaten a delicious breakfast they moved towards one of the long walkways that led to one of hidden exits.

For a brief moment Diana felt the chill of fear run down her spine. Kal had suddenly gone cold. She felt it in his grip, his look and his demeanor. But almost as quickly as the stab of fear took her, it was gone and she and Kal robotically made their way from the Fortress and, still holding hands, tele-ported to the Watchtower and their rendezvous with the enemy.

******Titans Tower******

"It's been three days and there's no sign of them or of Circe! What if she already killed them? I'm telling you we have to get to the Fortress! If there were someplace somebody could hide, that would be it!" Wally insisted exasperated.

"Only Clark and Kara have access to the Fortress and maybe Diana. Circe can't get in there," Bruce explained patiently.

"Wait. I thought you had access to the Fortress as well. What happened? Supes take away your access codes after catching you trying to steal stuff for your gadgets?" Ollie asked.

"No. Clark gives me access. But his codes change everyday. I've been out of commission for a week. My code won't work. Only Kal or Kara can pass the genetic scans to enter and the Fortress is way to vast for us to even know where we could start to look for them. Right now we wait. Something just isn't right. I think everybody else in the League is somehow under her spell. There's no other explanation for the emptiness of the Watchtower," Batman explained.

"Why don't we contact the other members and see what's up?" Wally asked.

"We don't know what condition they're in. Maybe they were just like Nightwing or maybe they are programmed to attack. I don't want to take a chance. If there are no other options then we'll start doing that. I don't want us to give ourselves away yet. We need to take her by surprise if possible," Batman replied.

"I think Batman's right. Circe is going to show her hand soon. She must think she has it all under control. We just have to sit and wait. She always has some elaborate scheme. If she had already killed Diana or Superman or both she would be flaunting it to the world and she wouldn't care who knew where she was. She's keeping a low profile for a reason. We just have to be ready to act when she does show up," Donna concurred.

"Okay, fine. We wait. But I don't see how we're going to act when she does show up. We haven't found Diana's lasso or the dagger that Circe was trapped in. So somebody please remind me how we have any kind of edge here?" Wally pointed out.

"She must have them on her person. We have to take them from her when she shows herself," Nightwing answered.

Ollie shuddered. "Well, forgive me if that doesn't fill me with confidence. We're talking Circe here. Not Toyman, not Clock King, not Joker, not Luthor, not even half of the space baddies. This is Circe; the witch who can change people into animals, the one who can warp reality, the one who can make your blood feel like it's boiling, the one who can control our minds!"

"We have surprise. We have Wally. We have Zee. We have Donna. We have Megalina. She's not going know what hit her and we're going to win," Batman growled in defiance.

Everyone felt the same. It didn't matter the odds. They were going to save their friends. The alternative was not worth considering. All debate about the possibilities of success ceased and the team simply waited, watching the sensors that had been set up at the Watchtower. They would know when the Witch returned and they would act.

All were trying to think of ways they would make the witch pay when the sensors at the Watchtower went off. All eyes were instantly glued to the monitors.

******Watchtower Docking Bay******

Kator brought the small Thangarian battleship in for a landing and he and Shayera disembarked holding hands.

It felt good to be back with the familiar surroundings, although if given a choice both would have elected to spend more time alone.

Slowly, they made their way to their room, divested themselves of their battle armor and their weapons. After a quick shower they dressed in civilian clothes and made their way to the main conference room to join in Superman's birthday party.

They were a bit surprised to find the room completely empty. It was not long before they had discovered that there was no one in the Monitor Womb. The Watchtower seemed to be completely deserted.

"I sense something extremely sinister going on here, love," Shayera stated nervously.

"Yes, I can almost smell the danger, my dear," Kator agreed.

It was not long before the two were back in battle gear and armed to the teeth. As they reentered the monitor womb, there was the unmistakable beep announcing the arrival of some one through the tele-porter.

Mentally preparing themselves for anything they were relieved to see Wally materialize before them.

They noted quickly that he was not in his normal playful mood. After a quick exchange, he convinced them to leave with him to Titans Tower to be filled in on the situation and to join the small team bent on saving their friends.

******A few minutes later******

One of the tele-porters fired up again. Maxima materialized and stepped down. She had a very satisfied smile on her face. She had sensed the reappearance of Superman and Wonder Woman instantly when they exited the Fortress and had tele-ported to the Watchtower to wait.

The wait was not long. Seconds after her arrival Superman and Wonder Woman were stepping down from the tele-porter pads. She was happy to see that both were still very much under her control.

"Did you humiliate her as instructed?" Circe asked the robotic looking Superman.

"I did as I wanted," he replied.

"Somehow, I don't find that satisfactory, but no matter. We have plenty of time for you to humiliate and crush the Princess's spirit now that you are both back," Circe gloated.

Producing some magical chains from what the folds of Maxima's green skirt she handed them to Superman. "Bind the Princess's wrists together, quickly," she commanded.

Superman complied with the witch's commands. Diana was completely docile and so there was no resistance on her part.

"Good. Now pick her up and follow me to my room." Circe demanded as she started off down the hall to the living area. Superman followed her with Diana in his arms as commanded.

"Lay her there on the floor and step away." Circe commanded once they were safely in the room.

Again Superman did as told. He stood stiffly a few feet away while the witch bent over Diana.

"I now free your mind from my control, but not your body. You will watch, unable to speak or move as I use your lover and then when I am through with him, he will take you by force while you are bound, then, at my command, your lover will snuff out your miserable life. This is your glorious end. To understand all that has happened and is happening and to be impotent to do anything to save yourself or your lover." Circe stepped away slowly letting her words penetrate. She was satisfied to see the look of horror on Diana's face. She watched with amusement as the princess attempted to speak in vain. She then turned and floated to Maxima's bed and lay down.

"Come, my slave. Undress me. You will make love to me here. I want the Princess to witness how utterly under my control you are." Circe commanded, never taking her eyes off of Diana.

Diana watched in horror as Kal walked obediently over to Maxima. She knew now that it was Circe in control. Maxima was not evil, and as irritating as she had always found her to be, she had grown to respect and actually like the alien princess in the last few months and had sensed a deep respect from her as well.

She closed her eyes to avoid seeing Kal undress the witch. The memory of her time with Kal in the Fortress was so vivid and strong. She knew she was in love, but she also knew that they had been at least partially under some kind of influence of the witch. Kal belonged with Lois. They were married. She could not steal him away. She had been used to hurt Kal. This pained her more than knowing that Kal was being used to hurt and kill her.

She truly felt impotent. She could not make her muscles respond. She could not move. She could not even speak. She could see, hear and remember. She knew that there would be a way to save her Kal. No. Not her Kal. She had to stop thinking of him that way. There would be a way. She would find it. Somehow she would free him from his spell.

******Maxima******

Maxima suddenly found herself free. She was in control of her body. As she looked through her eyes once again she was shocked to see the one man she desired in the universe kissing her naked body.

"Kal-El?"

Diana's eyes shot open. The voice was different. It was Maxima in control. She almost wished she hadn't opened her eyes. Kal was mostly naked and he was leaning over the naked form of Maxima. He was kissing and touching her. Maxima's eyes registered surprise, joy, desire and victory.

Diana gave an involuntary jerk and found to her surprise that she could move.

"Take me, Kal-El. We were meant to be one." Maxima encouraged the man of her dreams. And then her eyes fell on Diana. She saw the pain, the hopeless plight and instantly remembered the promise of the witch. Diana was in the same boat she had been in for the last several days. She was getting the man she wanted but at the expense of the noble princess.

For a very brief moment Maxima considered ignoring the Princess. Her body was already on fire for Kal-El. She could pretend the princess wasn't there. She could enjoy the ecstasy of joining with her Kryptonian and then figure out how to keep in control of her body and save the princess. But the moment was brief.

The Princess had fought for her planet. She had treated her with kindness even when she had treated her with disdain. The Princess was now a victim of the witch just as was she.

Diana slowly sat up and spoke. "It's Circe. Maxima. Kal. You must fight it. Princess Maxima, where is my lariat?" She noted that Maxima was also putting the pieces together and fighting her very own desires.

"No, Kal-El. We cannot." Maxima asserted with great effort as she pushed the man she desired above all others away. "You must help Princess Diana and me. The sorceress is using you." She heard princess Diana speaking. She turned her head towards her as she tried to sit up while pushing Superman away. The question registered. "She tele-ported it to the surface of the moo…" with a look of horror Maxima found herself bound in her cell once again. She heard the laughter of the witch far away as she mocked her for not accepting her gift.

Kal-El stood up slowly. For a brief moment his mind was clear. He saw Maxima pushing him away. He saw Diana bound and sitting on the cold floor looking intently at him. Her eyes were filled with urgency. He remembered three days of passion and love with her. And he remembered his wife. He started to move towards Diana to free her, but he felt the powerful magic of the witch taking over his mind and body again.

He turned back towards Maxima. If he noticed the change in eye color from green to violet, there was no outward indication of it.

It was Circe who spoke next. "The fool alien princess could not enjoy her reward. It is of no consequence. Come slave. I will enjoy you. Then we will take care of the Princess."

Diana felt the witch's sorcery taking control of her once more, but now she knew that Maxima was alive and fighting the witch, and most importantly, to her, she had seen recognition and understanding in Kal's eyes. Now he would be fighting for freedom. She silently willed him to wait for the right moment, although she didn't know how many more moments there would be. She also feared that all of the witch's plans would come true and that Kal would be aware of his actions but not able to control himself. This she feared more than dying.

Kal moved towards Maxima once more. But now he was moving much slower than before. His forehead was creased in concentration and he broke out into a sweat as he struggled to regain control of his mind and body.

Maxima laughed. "You cannot win, Kryptonian. You are mine. I control you. Come to me now."

Kal bent down once again and began kissing Maxima's body.

Circe sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. Slowly she let her eyes drift to Diana. "He is a most excellent slave. I was planning on freeing him after he kills you but I think I will keep him."

She turned her attention back to Superman as she opened herself to him. "Talk me now, my slave."

Superman man stood to remove the last of his uniform before the gloating eyes of the witch and the desperate eyes of Diana.


	31. Chapter 31

The Birthday Present

Chapter 30

Okay, For All Those Who Have Been Wondering About This, Here's How You Rescue A Tied Up, Somewhat Magically Paralyzed, Amazon Princess And A Naked, Mostly Mind Controlled Kryptonian From A Violet Haired, Violet Eyed Sorceress Hiding In A Super-Powered, Red Headed, Green-Eyed Space Princess.

Everybody Got That? Might Want To Take Notes On This. Never Know When It Might Happen To You.

******JLA Satellite******

Circe gloated in her triumph. Everything was turning out better than she'd planned. The alien princess was fighting a losing battle to regain control of her mind and body, the Kryptonian was now very much aware of what he was doing with her and what he was going to do to the Amazon princess. But the sad excuse for a hero was completely under her control and unable to overcome her sorcery. And finally, the Amazon princess was going to watch helplessly as her lover pleasured her sworn enemy against his will and then snuffed out her own life. It was all so poetic. She was sure there would be songs of both joy and lament written of this moment.

As her trembling and sweating conquest moved over her and began to touch her she turned her head to smile and mock the Amazon princess. The smile froze on her lips. Circe sensed the arrival of enemies. Her victim's allies were attempting a desperate rescue.

Circe did not fear defeat from them but she very much feared losing control of the Amazon whore's lover. He was the ultimate toy and weapon. She had even begun to contemplate keeping him for herself after disposing of the princess.

For the time being she would have to forgo enjoying the physical pleasures she had barely had a taste of from her slave. There were more pressing matters to attend to now and the fun would have to wait.

"Stop." Circe put her right hand on Kal-El's chest and reluctantly pushed him off as she sat up. She noted the power and tension in her new plaything from her touch. It served as an incentive to do her utmost to keep him as her own once everything was said and done. Not only did she plan on enjoying him, but she wanted the pleasure of controlling him against his will. Seeing in his eyes that he knew all that had transpired but completely impotent to do anything to stop her or himself; that, she considered a lovely victory.

It was time to get rid of the Princess. "We will have our fun later. Your friends think that they are going to rescue you. Kill the princess now, then go and kill your meddlesome friends. If you obey me quickly, I will allow you to continue what you started." Circe smiled mockingly at Superman.

"Stop wasting time trying to resist me. Go break your little whore's neck! Kill her, now!" Circe quickly lost her temper. Superman was just standing in front of her, naked and tensed. There was sweat on his brow. The fool was trying to fight her control, but he was losing. He walked stiffly over to Diana and knelt in front of her.

Diana smiled proudly into his face. She felt it might be the end, but they were still alive and she had heard Circe's reason for cutting short her humiliation session with Kal. She could also tell that Kal was struggling with all his might to overcome the witch's control. They could win. They had to.

Unlike Kal, Diana was able to speak. Part of Circe's humiliating plan. To allow her to beg her lover for her life while he unwillingly snuffed it out.

Kal's hands were touching her neck now. His eyes were in turmoil as he slowly began to squeeze.

Diana stared into his eyes; her proud smile became gentle. "I love you, Kal, and I know that you are strong; strong enough to fight, Circe. You only have to hold out until our friends get here. They're already on the station. Listen. You can hear them. Do not surrender another inch and do not despair. Get angry. Resist her. Start by speaking. You are strong enough to take back your mind and body. All this time you have been under her control and never once have you hurt me or anyone else."

Superman froze. He felt like he was watching his own actions from outside of his body. He heard Diana and saw his hands slowly beginning to squeeze her neck. He felt the powerful magic of the witch making him kill his best friend, and now, there was no denying, his lover. He had been fighting the sorcery now for several minutes, but the first three words that Diana had spoken seemed to supercharge him.

Superman stood up with a yell of rage and a surge of willpower. His hands were no longer squeezing Diana's neck, but they were still wrapped around it, so he brought her up with him as well.

Diana did not have control of her body. She had focused all of her energies on saving Kal. Not having control of her muscles, she sagged against Kal's body. She felt an almost overwhelming desire for him with the sudden, physical contact.

Having control of her mind she knew that the false lariat was doing its work, but she also realized that the vivid memories of their last three days together coupled with being so near to his naked form were only compounding her desire. It was nice to feel him so close, but she did not have the luxury of dwelling on her thoughts or the ability to act on them in any case. The fact that Kal still had an unwilling grip on her neck, aided in squelching the romance of the moment and the lustful pull of the lariat. They were still in mortal danger. She had to help Kal. If nothing else she would see him free of the witch's control before she died.

Circe was beside herself with rage. "Kill her!" she shrieked as she rose just as naked as Kal, from her bed.

It was at that moment the door exploded.

******Teleporter Pad******

Moments earlier

The nine, desperate, would be rescuers teleported into the Watchtower simultaneously. They had a very simple plan. Stop the witch and save their friends. However, each had his or her special role to play.

Wally was nervous. His role was the most dangerous. Dangerous roles were not uncommon for him, nor did he normally care. He was very confident in his ability to meet any challenge, but taking on an evil Superman, or in this case, a Superman controlled by an evil, super powered sorceress, as well as the super powered sorceress, simultaneously did not make him feel confident.

As nervous as he felt it did not stop him from doing his part. No sooner had they materialized in the Watchtower, he was gone.

"Everybody knows what they have to do. Let's move!" Bruce commanded as he hurried as fast as his stiff muscles would allow him down to the command center. Katar stayed with Bruce as backup. The rest of the team disappeared in the direction of Maxima's room, behind Wally.

******Wally******

Wally vibrated through the door with such force that the door exploded into Maxima's room. It was as if the speed force sensed his desperation. Locks didn't stop him and the loyal guards were nowhere to be found. Wally didn't dwell on that fact for long. The sight that met him on entering the room sent a chill of fear down his spine.

Wally saw Diana bound, he saw her limp body sagging against Superman's naked body, he saw Superman choking Diana and he saw the witch in Maxima's body standing naked and shouting for Superman to kill Diana.

For Wally to see was to act. Having taken everything in, at an incomprehensibly small amount of time, he attacked.

Attacking Superman went against every fiber of Wally's being. First, he knew he was ridiculously out of his depth in the power department to ever hope to win a fight against Superman. Second, of all the heroes he admired, and there were many, Superman was the one he most looked up to. He considered Superman his close friend and mentor. For Wally, Superman was the big brother he could always depend on.

Wally tried to push all thoughts of fear, from his mind and reminded himself that his hero was not himself. It was his duty to save Diana if possible and that meant taking her from Big Blue. He struck him at full speed and used his most powerful tool. He transferred a tremendous amount of Speed Force energy to Superman's body.

The speed at which he struck and the level of energy that he transferred to Superman ripped him away from Diana and sent him flying across the room. Superman struck Maxima as he went and the two ended in a heap on the floor against the opposite wall.

Wally turned back and caught Diana as she fell, then sped out of the room with her.

Wally stopped when he was in his own room. He was breathing hard. Not from exertion, but from nerves. He dropped Diana down on his bed and was about to check her for signs of life when he noted that her eyes were open. "Diana! You're okay! I thought you were dead! Aw, man! You had me scared!"

Seeing that Diana was alive and safe caused Wally to shift into humor mode. Diana looked like she needed to be cheered up. "I always knew that Maxima was hot but I never dreamed I would see her naked! It was kinda cool being in the same room with her all naked and stuff. Looked like she was sorta in the mood, you know what I mean? But the rest of it all really sucks eggs. Big Blue completely destroyed the joy of the moment by being naked too. And I touched him while he was naked! That was just wrong on every level imaginable. Well, at least he wasn't sporting a chubby, but still! That is just not fair! What did I ever do that was so bad that I'm not allowed to have a super salami?! Did you get a good look at his thing?! There should be like a law against having one that big. And you know what's worse?! I vibrated him! Don't tell anybody about that! You have got to promise! They'll never stop making fun of me."

Diana could not help but smile. Leave it to Wally to find humor in a desperate situation. "Wally, you do not know how wonderful it is to see you. Kal is fighting Circe's sorcery. You have to help him. Please take this lariat off of me. It isn't mine. I need to focus now on regaining control. You have to retrieve my lariat and the dagger that imprisoned her. Maxima told me that Circe teleported both to the moon. We need them to defeat her and free Maxima and Kal completely from her control."

Wally grinned as he untied Diana. "Yeah, I thought of that before the others too! I thought that um…I, Um…Wow! Diana you are smoking hot! And you make that outfit of yours sing! Then again, I'll bet you make anything you wear sing. Just a friendly suggestion, get the same outfit you have, but in a thong. Think you look good now? Baby! I'm talking some major howling and panting when you walk into the conference room on, Strategy Tuesdays! You may think I'm kidding now, but ten bucks says the meetings would go from once a week to daily and I'd bet anything most of, if not all, of the guys would be volunteering to pair up with you on missions! Yeah, listen, I know we've never talked about exploring anything further than our little romps in the situation room and sometimes sharing a table at lunch, but say the word, and I'll show you how a man with the power of the speed force can satisfy his girl. I'll vibrate you out of your clothes so fast. That's right. They call me Wally 'the vibrator' West. Once you've had a taste of 'the vibrator' there'll be no going back."

For a moment, Diana just looked at the suddenly lust filled Wally, aghast. But only for a moment; almost instantly, she realized that Wally was under the influence of the false lariat, and that the only reason she was not was due to her knowledge of what it could do, and her strength and focus of mind.

Dian was a bit concerned. She was still unable to move her body and it looked like Wally was quickly succumbing to the irresistible spell of lust that powered the false lariat. So she focused all her energies on shocking Wally into dropping the lariat. Before he crossed a line. "Wally! Someone's at the door! They're coming in!"

Wally dropped the lariat and phased through the door and in less than a blink he had phased back in. Mission accomplished, she yelled, "No!" just as he stooped to pick up the lariat.

Wally froze. "What? You don't want to be untied? You don't want help stopping Circe?"

Diana gave a thankful sigh. Wally was back to normal. "Don't touch the lariat. It puts you into a powerfully lustful state and makes you forget or ignore all restrictions, all other relationships, all other responsibilities and oaths. It destroys your heart."

"Okaaay… so leave it on you for now. You don't seem lusty to me. You're being good and not trying to seduce me. But if you say so, I won't touchy." Wally cooperated as he backed away a few feet.

"I've been under its spell for several days. I'm just now fighting it. I have to break Circe's control over my body. The best way to do that is to help Maxima fight her and the best way to do that is with my lariat." Diana explained gratefully and patiently.

Wally was nodding at super speed in agreement, and then suddenly, his head snapped up. "Under its spell for several days?! So you've been getting it on with Supes! That is sooo cool! Wait a minute! I thought he was married!" The huge grin that had spread across his face suddenly disappeared.

"Wally. I need you to focus on finding my lariat and the dagger. Can you do that?" Diana asked. She hoped he would be able to focus.

"You want me to go to the moon? Yeah, sure. I could do that. But I have a better idea. Donna is here and she has her LOP with her. It works a lot like yours does, and it's really cool. Glows blue when it's working. I like it a lot. Maybe when this is all over I'll get all wrapped up in it and watch it glow blue. Course it would probably be cooler if it glowed red or yellow, you know?" Wally was proud of himself. Things were coming together. He looked down at Diana for approval and saw that she seemed a bit distraught maybe beginning to lose her patience. It looked like he was the cause.

Seeing that Diana was becoming impatient with him, Wally quickly focused on the task at hand. "I'll bring Donna and her lasso here to help you and then I'll go find your stuff. Don't move. Be right back." And with that he was gone.

Diana watched as Wally suddenly disappeared. It always amazed her how fast he was. She could move with speed that rivaled that of Hermes. Kal was far faster than she. It sometimes left her breathless the incredible speeds he could attain, but Wally was in a whole different class. When he went into full speed there were no after affects. No whoosh. No gust of wind. No debris. It was as if he just shimmered into view and shimmered out.

Diana was still thinking of his speed and had not moved on to thinking about what he had meant when he shimmered into existence before her once more.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to sound insensitive. I know you can't move. I meant don't go anywhere, but that's kinda stupid too, since you're all tied up and stuff…" Wally began.

"Wally! Focus! We have to save Kal and Maxima!" Diana interrupted him in exasperation.

"Right! Sorry!" and he was gone.

******Maxima's Room******

Circe found herself buried beneath Superman. While it was her plan to eventually be pinned beneath his very naked body, she found this particular scenario rather uncomfortable and infuriating. He was facing the wrong direction and he was mostly dead weight.

With no little effort, Circe pushed until she was able to roll Superman off of herself. As she sat up she found that the room had suddenly become very crowded. Five very shocked and angry faces and one shocked very pleased face stared down at her.

The sight, threw Circe into a deadly and desperate rage. Springing to her feet she blasted out a bolt of energy with the intent of burning her enemies to ash.

The bolt never left her hands. Instead she found the pretty, little, dark haired witch holding her hands towards her and speaking quietly under her breath and then her own body guard and the younger Amazon princess had her pinned against the wall. For a moment she forgot whose body she was controlling. But being indignant and furious she lashed out and was surprised to find that she was able to break free from her traitorous bodyguard and the little princess.

Megalina and Donna weren't ready to give up.

Megalina shouted, "My princess! It is I! You must fight the witch!" while taking a fighting stance and preparing for a long and grueling battle.

Donna did not speak; she simply sprang back to the attack. She feared the worse. Diana was nowhere to be seen. Was she dead? She struck Circe's left hand down with her right and palm healed her with her left lifting her off the floor. This time however, Circe did not crash to the floor. She just hovered in the air.

Circe shook her head to clear it from the sudden ache of the blow and screamed, "Supergirl! Superman! Kill them!"

Donna and Megalina kept on guard. Donna floated up into the air to face Circe squarely. Hawkgirl wanted to attack with her mace but they had all agreed to try and avoid deadly force or even violent force if possible to save Maxima.

"Zee. Anytime you can make her shut up or go to sleep or go all weak, is good with us," Nightwing encouraged. He and Ollie were mostly standing behind Shayera and Zatanna.

That was Zatanna's plan. "eb tnelis hctiw. Uoy lliw mrah on eno else yadot. Amixam, ekat kcab ruoy ydob." She stared intently at the witch as she spoke and was rewarded with silence. It told her that Circe's abilities were being taxed. She was stretched out too thin. And Zatanna was also certain that Maxima was struggling to reclaim her own body as well.

Zatanna felt somewhat weak. Having been mostly immobilized while under Circe's curse had not been good for her muscles but being magical had kept her in better shape than Bruce. As weak as she felt, she was certain she and her friends would be victorious. She was not fighting a sorceress at full strength, but one who was stretched out very thin.

There was a moment of panic as Superman rose to his feet. It was a bit disconcerting and distracting for the both the ladies and the men present to see Superman naked. Disconcerting and distracting enough that all but one, failed to notice his glowing red eyes.

Megalina, as many of the powerful females from Almerac, suffered the same weakness for strong male specimens that her princess did. She was suddenly no longer focused on her princess but on admiring the body of Superman.

Donna gasped when she realized that Superman was naked. She even pointed out the obvious to Superman himself. "You're naked!"

Zatanna felt as if she were losing control of the situation. She noted that Superman was naked, but she was focusing more on keeping control of Circe. What struck her more than Superman being naked was the red glow from his eyes. She feared he was still under the witches sway and would attack. She didn't think she could battle the powerful Circe and free Superman or protect anyone from his attack simultaneously.

Shayera feared the worst. They would all meet their end this day. Worse, it would be at the hands of a trusted friend. She was fiercely loyal to Superman, as was her husband, Kator. While she had no delusions of being able to defeat Superman she was certain that she could help free him from the awful spell he was under. Without a second thought, she launched her mace at Superman.

Nightwing and Ollie were staring at Superman in disbelief.

"What the…! Why couldn't I have been born on Krypton?! That is just not fair!" Ollie complained.

"When this is all over, I'm gonna ask him what he did. Must be his diet or maybe he has like a special space pump or something. And you're right. It's not fair. I want a super wiener too! Whoa!" Nightwing's grumbling turned to complete shock in the next moment.

Supergirl floated in front of them. She had caught Shayera's mace before it hit her cousin and now still in the air she had turned to face them, eyes glowing fiercely.

It was now apparent to Zatanna that Superman was also fighting the witch's control. He had been facing them for several seconds now without attacking them. Supergirl, on the other hand, looked like she had every intention of attacking. More importantly Circe had collapsed to the floor.

"Donna! Megalina! Focus on Circe and Maxima! I'll hold off Supergirl," Zatanna barked as she shifted her focus. Then she panicked. Supergirl attacked too fast for her to defend herself but before she struck, she was down.

******Superman******

Superman stood to his feet in unwilling obedience to Circe's command, but Diana's words, her smell, her faith in him kept running through his mind. He felt her strength. He knew she was right. He could take back control. He would take back control.

Clark saw the mace coming at him and welcomed it. He was sure that the nth metal would give him the little edge he needed to completely break from Circe's control. And then Kara was floating menacingly in front of him, obviously under Circe's control, and with every intent of harming his friends. It was all the edge he needed. When Kara launched herself at Zatanna, Superman tackled her to the ground, free at last from the control of the witch.

******Monitor Womb moments earlier******

Batman was furiously looking for other indications of life on the Watchtower as well as any signature of Diana's lariat and Circe's prison dagger. He engaged the com-link tracking system. In seconds he was rewarded with the whereabouts of the one member he had hoped to find. "Kator! We have to get to J'onn's room. He's there, but something must be wrong."

Hawkman nodded and scooped Batman up by hooking him under his arms, and sped towards J'onn's room. Within seconds they were there.

Batman overrode the security code and the two entered to find their friend on the floor. His body completely tensed, his eyes open, but looking at something far away and in complete despair. His mouth was open in what looked like a silent scream. After a moment the body language changed and J'onn was suddenly audibly sobbing.

Bruce and Kator kneeled down next to their long time friend.

"J'onn? It's a spell. It isn't real. Circe has attacked us and means to destroy us. We need you. You are strong enough to fight her if you want to. But you have to want to," Bruce pleaded as he placed a hand on J'onn's shoulder.

"Here, my friend. Grab hold of my mace. It is made of nth metal and resists magic in all its forms. It will give you the edge you need to free yourself." Kator took one of J'onn's hands and placed his mace in it.

"The results were instant. With a groan, J'onn's eyes came back into focus. As Bruce's words penetrated, J'onn stood up with a growl. His eyes seemed far away for a moment. Bruce and Kator both recognized that he was telepathically locating someone.

"They are all in Maxima's room," Bruce informed him.

"Yes, they are. Thank you, friends." J'onn returned Kator's mace then disappeared through the wall of his room.

"Go on, Kator. I'm not much use physically yet and even if I were, I'd still be pretty useless in a confrontation with the likes of Superman and Circe. I need to find the dagger and lariat in any case." Bruce encouraged Hawkman.

"Take my mace. It will give you nearly the same edge that I have. I have my other weapons. All are of nth metal and we do not know where to begin looking. Our best bet is to find out from the witch herself," Kator offered.

Bruce smiled grimly as he hefted the powerful mace. "It would be an honor, but I'm in no condition to fight yet, let alone against someone like Maxima. Keep your mace. I'm going to focus on finding the lariat and the dagger."

"Very well, my friend. I wish you good fortune on your hunt. I will now join my Shayera in battle." Kator and Bruce clasped hands and then space soldier sped away down the hall.

******Maxima's Room******

Wally sped back into Maxima's room. As he moved towards Donna he noticed Nightwing and Ollie standing behind Zatanna and Hawkgirl. It was too much for Wally. He stopped.

"Guys? I don't think this is what you two are supposed to be doing. I thought you two were supposed to be helping Bruce find the lariat and the dagger? You're just standing around staring at the ladies butts and accomplishing nothing. If you have no idea where to start looking, I'll give you a hint. The first letter is m and the last letter is oon. So start looking and I'll be with you in a moment." Wally slapped both on the back, shimmered over towards Donna, grabbed her, noted that Superman was holding Supergirl face down on the floor and that he was still naked. He blurted out, "Gross!" and then he and Donna were gone.

Nightwing and Green Arrow, were feeling fairly useless. In addition to useless, Ollie was feeling very nervous. He was too close to Superman. Superman had every reason to want to kill him and he imagined even more so under the control of magic. And then there was the whole thing with him being naked, and while it was fairly entertaining to see him pinning down the pretty young Supergirl to the floor, Ollie figured it would be the better part of valor to quietly slip out of the room before he was noticed, and look for the lariat. Wally's startling appearance and lecture only served to reinforce his plan of action. And so Ollie began slowly slinking towards the door. He was certain he would be safer on the surface of the moon than he would be in the same room with Superman.

Nightwing felt that he should have gotten used to the abrupt appearances and disappearances of his best friend. But Wally startled him nonetheless. Wally was right, of course. It was their job to look for the lariat, but they had no idea where to begin and telling them it was on the surface of the moon didn't help much. It was a big moon and they couldn't just hop off of the satellite onto the moon surface and start digging in the moon dust. Still trying to decide what to do, Dick realized that Donna was gone and that Maxima was standing up. If it came to a fight, Megalina was going to be hard pressed to hold her own. Not only was Maxima in Diana and Barda's power class, but with the sorceress possessing her it seemed the fight would be truly short. He knew helping personally would be an equally useless gesture, but he wasn't the only one in the room.

"Shayera! Zee! Maxima is up!" Nightwing informed them.

It was well that he did. Both ladies had been focused on Superman and Supergirl struggling on the floor. Shayera immediately rushed forward snatched her mace from off the floor and went to Megalina's assistance.

Zatanna kneeled down next Supergirl's head as she struggled in vain to free herself from her cousin. Zee touched her head lightly then spoke, "lrigrepus, eb eerf. Ekat kcab ruoy ydob. Ekam ruoy dnim ruoy nwo."

Supergirl stopped struggling as she regained control of her mind. "I'm okay, Clark. You can let me up."

Clark let go of her and stood up.

Kara stood up and turned to her cousin with a smile on her face which instantly turned into a look of horror. "You pinned me down while you were naked! Your big, ugly thing was touching me!" She nearly screamed in disgust.

Kara's outburst caused everyone to stop and stare Superman.

Circe took advantage of the distraction to tele-port out of the room.

Kal quickly put on his suit. He did not take time to apologize as he stared through the walls and floors of the Watchtower. Time was of the essence. "She's still here. Moving down the hall!" With that he blurred from the room in pursuit.

Superman caught up to her quickly just as J'onn appeared on the opposite side of her. Both heroes gave satisfied grunts. The fight was as good as over. Circe gave out a psychic blast of energy and disappeared through the floor.

"She's on the surface of the moon." Superman stated grimly.

"She has gone to collect the dagger." J'onn nodded.

Both looked at each other knowingly.

"She's not going to get it," Superman growled.

Superman blurred to the teleportation pad. J'onn simply sank through the floors of the Watchtower. They arrived almost simultaneously on the surface of the moon.

"Hello, Kal-El, J'onn. You two are very persistent. I suppose you are here to stop me. Were you perchance looking for this?" Circe held up the dagger, "Or were you looking for your friends?" She asked pointing to her left.

Kal and J'onn saw Batman and Green Arrow floating several feet off of the surface. Both were alive, but immobilized and held within a bubble of energy.

"You will let them go. There is no scenario where you win. But there are several scenarios where things will definitely go much more badly for you. Do not choose one of those endings for yourself." J'onn communicated his command to Circe and Superman telepathically. He sounded calm, but Superman had never seen him look more dangerous.

"I will free your friends. And surrender myself and the dagger to you on one condition." Circe's response sounded smug and musical in their minds.

"And what is your condition?" Superman snarled back through the J'onn's mental link.

"You kill the Princess in front of me, of course," Circe responded. Her mocking laughter echoed through their minds.

"No deal." Super responded telepathically without a second thought. "You are finished, now." Superman blurred to the attack.

"Very well." Circe snapped her fingers and the force bubbles holding Batman and Green Arrow disappeared.


	32. Chapter 32

The Birthday Present

Chapter 31

You have everything under control

You've pretty much already won.

You've beaten all the heroes

The final phase is done.

There's no chance you'll lose

That's not how you fly.

And then you get moon dust in your eye

Like a big piece ah pie

Nope, it's not Amore.

******Watchtower******

******moments earlier******

Diana had given up trying to free herself. The false lariat was every bit as unbreakable as the lariat of truth. Instead she focused on keeping her mind clear. That was the more important victory at the moment. She hoped with all of her might that Kal was already free and she had faith in the abilities of her friends and teammates to help Kal and to hold their own against Circe. She prayed they would find her lariat and Circe's prison dagger quickly, and that none of her friends would underestimate the crafty witch.

Diana stared at the ceiling. A large part of her was in turmoil over the events of the last few days. The extent of the damage and grief Circe had brought to both her and Kal and Lois was too emotionally painful to contemplate. Memories of her three days of intense intimacy with Kal kept pushing to the forefront of her mind. At first she tried sweep the mental pictures away but found that she didn't really want to forget. They were impossible to forget. Kal was impossible to forget. Instead she, again, refocused her energies on resisting the pull of the lariat that bound her. As aware as she was of its power, it was still mentally and emotionally taxing.

The door to Wally's room opened and Diana was relieved to see her sister and Wally enter.

Donna rushed to her, but Diana stopped her before she touched the lariat.

"Do not touch it. It is cursed. You will fall under its control the same as I did," Diana warned her.

Donna read the story in Diana's eyes and dropped to her knee's, the pain plain on her face as she ached for her sister's plight.

"She forced him to use you, didn't she? Did he hurt you?" Donna asked, touching Diana's hand and being careful not to make contact with the lariat.

"Diana smiled at her brave sister's deep concern. There was pain but also a hint of triumph in her eyes as she replied. "That was her plan and intent. But Kal never hurt me or used me in any degrading way. Something worse happened. Now I am in love him."

"Okay, I am going to wrap my lasso around the two of us so that we can free you from this evil lariat. Are you ready?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Rats! Gotta run ladies!" Wally interrupted and in less than a blink he was gone.

"I did not like the sound of that!" Donna exclaimed with deep concern.

"Nor did I. I hope my Ka…I hope that our friends are not in mortal danger. I need to be free to help. You and I know the witch better than anyone." Diana recovered.

Donna looked at Diana understandingly and just as she was about to envelope Diana and herself in her lasso of persuasion, the door to Wally's room glowed red for a brief moment then crumbled inwards as a powerful figure burst through.

******Watchtower Space Equipment Room minutes earlier******

Batman was breathing heavily as he geared up to go out onto the surface of the moon. The run to the SE Room had been exhausting. It was humbling to feel so weak when he worked so hard to stay strong in every way. It was a lot of stress on his system so soon after waking from his weeklong, drug induced sleep. He was glad he had gone with the option of searching for Diana's lariat and Circe's dagger. He was not certain that they were on the moon but he suspected the witch might have teleported them there. He was certain that the Kryptonian metal detector and super magnet that Clark had given him would work on the lariat and definitely on the dagger. It had gone crazy the last time he had tested it on Diana's weapons and armor. Clark came up with the most ingenious inventions. Bruce was grateful that he shared. Finally ready, Bruce took a deep breath to steady his nerves, focused, and prepared to step into the elevator that would take him straight down to the moon's surface.

"Bruce! Wait up!" Ollie hollered, as he raced into the room.

Bruce was both annoyed and relieved. Ollie was always dependable in a fight and he was a good friend, but his recent actions had forced Bruce to look at his promiscuous friend in a very different light. He was too willing to put self-gratification over the safety of the team. It was a glaring weakness that begged for exploitation.

"Here to help me or just staying as far away from Clark as possible?" Batman asked, as he stepped into the elevator without looking up.

"Yes! Absolutely!" Ollie grabbed up the closest space suit and joined Bruce in the elevator. He was already half changed before the elevator began its descent.

"Where is Nightwing? He's supposed to be helping as well," Bruce asked. He was a bit nervous about Dick having been in the same room as the witch and hoped he was in one piece.

"Oh, he's alright. I think he was a bit more distracted by all the girly skin that was flashing in our faces than I was. It'll probably be a minute before he recovers and joins us," Ollie said it with a straight face.

Bruce grunted. He remembered the days when Dick had so easily been distracted by a pretty face, but he hadn't noticed any distractions since he had become serious with Barbara. He knew Ollie was hiding something. So he gave him a piercing stare.

"Okay! Fine! He's worried about Zee, so he's sticking by her. She is looking pretty weak, but not half as bad as you. You sound like you're wheezing," Ollie noted with concern. Even knowing why Bruce was in the state he was in, it was still hard to see his friend, who was always in control, looking so exhausted and out of breathe.

"You sure you don't want to sit this one out?" Ollie asked already knowing the answer.

"Somebody has to protect you from Clark." Bruce gave his first twisted smile.

The elevator stopped and opened. The two stepped carefully out onto the surface of the moon.

"That was not funny," Ollie shot back. They were communicating through their com-links now. He was looking up at the sky and in this case towards earth. While he stared something blurred past his view and into the hanger.

"What was that?!" Ollie panicked.

Bruce was already busy scanning with the Kryptonian metal detector. "What was what?" Bruce asked without looking up.

"Something just blurred past us into the hanger! You think the witch has some nasty space backup?!" Ollie did not like their situation at all.

Bruce had a look. "What did it look like and where did it come from?" He moved as quickly as he could in the direction indicated on his device.

"I don't know. It was moving very fast. Maybe a little whitish and came from the direction of earth," Ollie answered.

"We're safe. He's a good friend and always on our side." Bruce found himself smiling. He actually felt a little stronger now.

"I never dreamed I'd be getting a Sunday school lesson from you of all people," Ollie shot back as he stared nervously at the hanger.

"It wasn't a Sunday school lesson. It was a best friend lesson."

"You two should not be out here. It shows blatant disregard for your own lives. I may just have to end them, but for now I'll keep you two as leverage. Superman is so very angry with me. We had our very first lovers spat. He is so very cute when he is angry. I suspect he might not care what happens to you two at the moment. He's been so lustful for me today that nothing else seems to matter. But that is understandable. You two are very dispensable and I am so very desirable," Circe finished with a mocking, telepathic laugh.

Bruce and Ollie found themselves suspended in midair inside of some sort of energy bubble. Their atmosphere helmets detached from their suits and fell to the bottom of the energy bubbles.

"I'm going to play a little game with you two. As long as you do not try and put your helmets back on and as long as Superman does not attack me I will keep you safe inside the bubble with enough air to survive. Try and touch the helmets and the bubble goes poof! And of course if Superman attacks me, I will have to poof your bubbles as well." Circe smiled wickedly.

Bruce was tired. He had no way of fighting back but he knew where at least one of the objects he had been looking for was hidden and hoped that somehow he would have a chance to collect it. But he watched in helpless frustration as Circe dug out the dagger from the moon dust, straightened and gave him a mocking smile.

Ollie was quietly panicking. It did not look good; die at the hands of a Circe possessed Maxima or at the hands of Superman. He wished he had just left well enough alone and stayed in his penthouse like a good little billionaire. Still, if he were going to die, he would do all he could to go out fighting. With the bulkiness of the space suit he could not use his bow, but he had his small crossbow. He knew he would have one chance. When the energy bubble popped he was going to shoot the witch.

Suddenly, Superman and J'onn were before them. Bruce had never seen them look so intimidating. Ollie remembered seeing Superman in a rather similar state once before and he had hoped never to see him in such a state again.

"Hello, Kal-El. Hello, J'onn. You two are very persistent. I suppose you are here to stop me. Were you perchance looking for this?" Circe held up the dagger, "Or were you looking for your friends?" she asked, pointing to her left.

Bruce was studying his detector. He had never used the magnet portion of the device but Clark had shown him once how to use the controls. Bruce was certain that no matter what transpired, the force bubbles were going to end up going 'poof'. So he carefully aimed his device at Circe's hand. He knew the magnet was strong and he was fairly close to her. As soon as she dissolved their bubbles the magnet should yank the dagger from her hand. He wasn't sure if he was going to survive or not, but he would be damned if he didn't go out fighting.

Kal and J'onn saw Batman and Green Arrow floating several feet off of the surface. Both were alive, but each trapped within a bubble of energy.

"You will let them go. There is no scenario where you win. But there are several scenarios where things will go much worse for you. Do not choose one of those endings for yourself." J'onn communicated his command to Circe and Superman telepathically. He sounded calm, but Superman knew that J'onn was at the moment very much willing to destroy the witch.

"I will free your friends. And surrender myself and the dagger to you on one condition." Circe's response sounded smug and musical in their minds.

"And what is your condition?" Superman snarled back through the J'onn's mental link.

Bruce and Ollie both heard J'onn's voice for a split second in their heads. The message was very welcome. Both tensed for the inevitable.

"You kill the Princess in front of me, of course," Circe responded. Her mocking laughter echoed through their minds.

"No deal." Superman responded telepathically without a second thought. "You are finished, now." Superman blurred to the attack.

Bruce knew the plan, but his hands still felt clammy; Ollie was visibly shaking. That was good. No need for the witch to suspect anything. He aimed the powerful magnet at Circe's hand, switched it on and exhaled all his air.

"Very well." Circe snapped her fingers and the force bubbles holding Batman and Green Arrow disappeared.

******Watchtower Wally's bedroom moments earlier******

Wally was all wound up. He was doing everything but vibrating as he stood back nervously watching Donna and Diana interact.

Wally wanted to help. He wanted to fight. He needed to do something. The witch had done too much damage. She had played them all and nearly killed his best friends. He felt useless at the moment. Then he heard J'onn's voice in his head.

"Wally, get a lock on Green Arrow and Batman and teleport them into the Watchtower. Circe is about to kill them." J'onn instructed.

"Rats! Gotta run ladies!" Wally interrupted and in less than a blink he was gone.

"I did not like the sound of that!" Donna exclaimed with deep concern.

"Nor did I. I hope my Ka…I hope that our friends are not in mortal danger. I need to be free to help. You and I know the witch better than anyone." Diana recovered.

Donna looked at Diana understandingly and just as she was about to envelope Diana and herself in her lasso of persuasion, the door to Wally's room glowed red for a brief moment then crumbled inwards as a powerful figure burst through.

Donna sprang to her feet, facing the demolished door, but before she could defend herself she was knocked to the floor by a large white and red blur of furry muscle.

Donna knew who it was, but as she regained her feet, her relief vanished as she saw and heard her assailant savagely growling, shaking and tugging his head from side to side while Diana's body seemed to flop helplessly beneath him.

******Moments earlier: Fortress of Solitude******

Krypto sat outside the Fortress staring wistfully off into space. He had never felt so uneasy. Something was wrong with both Kal-El and with Diana. They had not paid him any attention and they both had smelled of danger. The lasso that Diana had on her person was not the same as the one she had brought with her before. It smelled wrong. He was sure it was the reason for their behavior.

He continued to sniff the air and study the heavens. Their scent had disappeared into the sky and on into space. His eyes locked on the Watchtower as his telescopic vision kicked in. Almost instantly he caught sight of Diana entangled in the nasty lasso. It ripped an involuntary growl from his throat. The lasso was hurting his Kal-El and Diana. He would take the lasso away and then his two favorite people would be safe and pay attention to him again.

With a growl of determination, Krypto launched himself into the sky. He quickly picked up speed. Within seconds he was in space and then he was just a blur as he streaked into the hanger bay of the Watchtower. As he approached the entrance from the hanger to the Watchtower the shield doors closed and the recognition system positively identified him, opening heavy doors and granting him access.

Krypto had never lost sight of Diana. He sped to the room she was held captive in and attacked the door with heat vision until it glowed red then he hit it full force, bursting through the molten metal.

He recognized Donna as he entered. He knew she was a friend; there was no time for niceties. Diana was wrapped in the evil smelling lasso and he had to remove it. In his dash for the lasso he knocked Donna over and then he was desperately and ferociously tearing at the false lariat, intent on ripping it from Diana.

"NO! Bad Krypto! Leave Diana Alone!" Donna screamed as she tried desperately to dislodge the big wolf-like dog from her sister.

"Krypto! You came to help me?! You big sweetie! Tug here!" Diana responded with relief when she realized what Krypto was trying to do.

Donna stopped trying to wrestle Krypto off of Diana as she realized what he was doing. Before she could help he had undone the knot and was slipping the lariat off of Diana and dragging it to the corner of the room. Once it was clear of Diana's body he dropped it, spun around and kicked at it contemptuously, then walked away from it with a snort of satisfaction.

Diana was on her feet and this time it was Krypto who was pounced on. He didn't mind. His Diana was hugging him and talking to him and telling him how wonderful he was. Donna soon joined Diana in pouring her affections on him. It wasn't long before he was sporting his full doggy grin and panting happily.

But the praises and doting didn't last long. Diana stood up, her face set and determined. "We have to take down Circe. And we have to save Maxima. She's still alive in there. Any edge we give her will give us an edge as well. And Kal. We have to help Kal." Diana was already heading for the door.

"What about this lariat?" Donna asked.

"We'll leave it for now. It's too dangerous to touch." Diana responded. As the three raced from Wally's room, Diana tried to contact J'onn, his response gave wings to their feet. The fight was already on.

******Monitor Womb: Moments Earlier******

Wally phased into the monitor womb and to the teleporting computers like a crackling bolt of lightening. He couldn't lock onto Batman or Green Arrow while they were enclosed in the magical spheres but he had them located via external video feed and had their exact location programmed and ready to teleport as soon as the bubbles disappeared.

Being the only one who could match and top Superman for speed he watched with appreciation as Superman accelerated to attack.

Circe was always a formidable opponent and in Maxima's body she was certainly no slouch. She dissolved the magical sphere's surrounding Batman and Green Arrow and in the same breath opened some sort of portal in front of her just as Superman reached her.

******Batman and Green Arrow******

Batman felt the cold grip of fear and death as the sphere around him dissolved. His fear turned to dread as he watched Superman disappear into a strange dark portal. But in the same instant he felt the familiar and welcome tingle and tug of the tele-porter and then he was collapsing off of one of the tele-porter pads.

Ollie felt the turmoil of fear and anger coursing through his veins, but he steeled himself for his shot and exhaled all his air.

The sphere dissolved.

Ollie fired his crossbow.

He felt the very welcome tug of the tele-porter.

He saw the witches hand flinch and watched as Superman disappeared through some kind of dark portal, then he was collapsing onto one of the tele-porter pads in the warmth of the monitor womb.

******Monitor Womb******

Wally was ready. As soon as the sphere's disappeared he fired the tele-porter and gasped as he watched Superman disappear into the portal.

He was still trying to figure out what had just happened when

Batman and Green Arrow materialized on the tele-porter pads and then collapsed, gasping from the mental, and in Batman's case, physical exhaustion.

"What just happened?!" Zatanna shouted her question as she, Supergirl and Nightwing rushed into the Monitor Womb. Zeroing in on the coughing Ollie and Bruce she made a beeline for them.

Supergirl was even more specific as she stared in disbelief at the video feed before her. "Where's Clark?! He was out there! That's it! I'm going to kill that witch!"

Wally and Zee both hollered at the same time, "No, Kara! She'll just get you under her control again!"

Nightwing was next to Wally. "Looks like J'onn is holding his own just fine. The Hawks, Megalina and Maxima's other bodyguards are on their way out right now. That should level the playing field."

Wally grimaced, "Hope so. Oh there they are. And Diana, Donna and…Krypto?!" Now he was grinning. "You know, I think we might have a chance."

"If you feel like making it a sure win then run this out to Diana." Bruce was standing on his own two feet. His face looked uncharacteristically grim even for him. Watching Superman disappear into the portal had shaken him deeply.

Wally looked down at Bruce's hands and gasped. "You found it! You got the dagger! How?!"

Bruce dropped the dagger into Wally's hands, and then collapsed into a chair. "Clark's genius invention." He held up the metal detector/magnet for all to see.

Wally snatched up the dagger and with an, "I'm on it!" disappeared.

******Surface of the Moon******

J'onn was holding back, but barely. Knowing that Maxima was currently an unwilling prisoner in her own body was the only reason he held back at all. As it was, the combination of Maxima's powers and Circe's sorcery were nearly overwhelming, even for J'onn. Still he did not give her the opportunity to think.

As soon as Batman and Ollie had been tele-ported to safety and Superman had disappeared, he had gone invisible and lashed out with a strong telepathic attack then followed up with powerful physical blow to the temporally stunned sorceress. His blow had knocked her clean off of her feet. With the physical connection, J'onn had tried to reach Maxima and he had sensed her for a brief moment. She seemed aware of what was going on as far as the battle was concerned but was not having much success in resisting and taking back control.

"You will not save her, Martian! This is my body now!" Circe had screamed as she sent out a blast of kinetic energy spraying moon dust everywhere. "BURN!" she screamed as she regained her feet.

There was no response.

Circe spun around trying to track and locate her enemy. She could not understand why her spell had not worked, but she was determined to wipe out every one of her adversaries now. She would not be defeated and humiliated by lesser beings as she had in the past.

She cursed herself for not seeing the attack of the two scared and desperate mortals, Green Arrow and Batman. She had a nasty bruise on her hand that was quickly healing and the blade had somehow been snatched from her. With a growl she cleared her head of her failure with the two fragile mortals and focused all of her attention and power on locating the powerful Martian.

She finally saw him but not fast enough to avoid another bone jarring blow that sent her several meters across the surface of the moon. She found herself a little farther from the satellite.

As Circe regained her feet again, she was in full battle mode, but she felt just a little weaker. It wasn't from the blow; Maxima was fighting back. The meddling Martian had somehow strengthened her.

She divided her attention for a brief moment to subdue the alien princess and was again knocked off her feet, this time by some sort of projectile.

Circe soared into the thin atmosphere of the moon sending out telekinetic blasts in every direction. She heard someone or something fall and saw the Hawkman speeding towards her; his mace crackling with energy and his eyes filled with the determined rage of battle.

Creating a whirlwind, she shot the stinging dust straight at the bold warrior, causing him to shield himself with his nth metal wings. She followed up the whirlwind with a bolt of other worldly energy and smiled to herself as the troublesome warrior fell, but the smile froze on her lips as another powerful blow sent her crashing back to the ground. The pain was greater this time, and it took her a few seconds to regain her bearings. When she did it was to find the Hawkgirl standing over her. Her mouth was frozen in a snarl and her mace was poised for a finishing strike.

Moving with her newfound speed, the witch caught her assailant's wrist and disarmed her in the same breath. In the next instant she had to cover her face as the Hawkgirl shot out several nth metal blades from her wings as she escaped the from her grasp. Before Circe could recapture the Hawkgirl, she was tackled to the surface of the moon by two of her hosts' own bodyguards. She found herself in alien restraints, but with a surge of anger and power threw off her assailants and with a simple spell, the restraints fell from her wrists.

Surrounding herself with a whirlwind of moon dust and energy, Circe prepared for another attack. It came too quickly for her to react. A large blur of white and red struck her to the ground face down. She felt teeth and hot breath on her neck. The strength was like the strength of Superman, but this was some sort of beast that had her pinned.

A moment later and she felt hands on her. She was being tied. She could feel the power of the lariat, but it was not the hated lariat of truth. That was still buried. She at least had that in her favor. Without it they would have to kill their friend to defeat her. Still the lariat that bound her was powerful. She could sense that her powers were diminished.

Diana and Donna bound Circe quickly and securely while Krypto held her down. Finished, they gestured for Krypto to release his prey, and they rolled her over so that she could face them. It was hard to look at the beautiful face of their friend and see only the gloating savagery of their dreaded enemy. Both sisters wore space gear. They could survive holding their breath in space for a while, but they had planned on fighting and they wanted to be able to communicate.

Diana spoke first. "You have lost. Bring back Kal and release Maxima and it will go easier for you." The emotions were plain to read on her face and eyes. She was hiding nothing.

Circe spat at her.

Donna took over. Hanging onto her lariat of persuasion she began, "I demand that you return Maxima's body to her and that you bring back Kal-El."

"Stupid girl! Your precious Kal-El is probably already nothing but space dust inside a red sun and the only way to get rid of me is with the dagger and only by killing your friend!" Circe responded telepathically.

"Well, we have the dagger, so getting rid of you isn't going to be a problem." Wally stood above her with the Olympian dagger in his hand. The visible part of his face was quite grim. He seemed very willing to kill her host in order to get rid of her. For the first time since returning, Circe felt a small stab of fear. At least she would have the consolation of having killed Superman and Maxima. The League was paying a serious price for her defeat this time.

Circe felt her control slipping for a moment. Maxima was again fighting for freedom, and with a vengeance. Before she regained control, Circe spat out her victory, "Your lover is dead, little Amazon whore! Whatever you do to me now will not change that or bring him back! Superman is gone!"


	33. Chapter 33

The Birthday Present

Chapter 32

It's Finally That Special Time Everyone's Been Waiting For! That's Right! DOGPILE!

******Space******

Superman found himself grasping nothing and staring at the same. He spun around in frustration trying to get his bearings. He felt blind rage taking over. The witch was way too resourceful. She had been in his grasp and now he was floating somewhere in empty space. He had to stop her before she hurt Diana or any more of his friends. Where was he!? Where had she sent him?!

Superman stopped his mad spinning and forced himself to relax and think. He possessed all his powers so he wasn't near a red sun or on some strange magical or kryptonite-infested world. Looking further out brought a silent grunt of satisfaction. The constellations were the same. He wasn't far from the solar system.

He began turning and scanning, studying the stars. At first, he just took it all in, familiarizing himself with them. Then he began to use his telescopic vision to pick up more details. It was not long before he had located his beloved solar system and a few seconds later he was accelerating towards home, his friends and an enemy that had threatened and mocked him and his friends for the last time.

******Rann******

Adam and Alanna were perplexed. They had never seen their friends act so strangely. The best way to describe them seemed to be lethargic. They had no interest or drive for anything. They had slept the first couple of days without even showing themselves for meal time. They had not behaved in a manner that at all hinted of being on an important mission.

Now was the day they were supposed to gather at the Watchtower for Superman's birthday party. Adam, Alana and Aleea were all set to go but it seemed that neither John nor Kyle was.

They were sitting with John and Kyle in their home. In the middle of a one way conversation with his two friends Adam suddenly saw the veil lift from their eyes. It was an amazing transformation. One moment the two Lanterns had been sitting and smiling vacantly and suddenly they were on their feet, faces frozen in confusion and their bodies tensed, as if for battle.

"Adam? What are we doing here?" John asked.

"This is very strange," Kyle muttered, as he took in his surroundings. He had only been to Rann once before and he was pretty sure he had not made plans to visit the exciting planet so soon since his visit.

"That is because it is my home," Adam grinned at Kyle and then turning to John he addressed his question. "We were hoping that you two could enlighten us. You have been here for several days. At first you led us to believe you were just stopping by en route to an important mission, but you have behaved as if your minds were manipulated by some outside force. We have been very concerned."

"This cannot be good," John observed. "Someone wanted us away from earth."

"That means we have to get back as quickly as possible!" Kyle also felt the urgency and danger of the moment.

"We were preparing to leave within the next few minutes to earth for Superman's birthday party. We'll be leaving by zeta beam. You two can come with us." Alanna informed them with a smile.

"That has to be it! Whoever did this wanted us out of the way for Superman's birthday!" Kyle nearly shouted as the revelation hit him.

"I suspect you're right, Kyle. Which means we need to get back as soon as possible. Sounds like your zeta beam is the quickest," John agreed.

Adam stood up. "It is good to have you two back with sound minds. We will depart in ten minutes."

******Planet Selvina******

"Sooo…what do you think? Pretty good loincloth? I could make a fairly decent Tarzan?" Hal was parading around in front of Dinah in an animal skin he had discovered while the two of them had been exploring. They were currently in a tree house, a power ring tree house, to be exact.

Dinah giggled. "You make a very nice Tarzan, Hal. We need to find something so that I can play jungle girl with you."

"Oh, no. You don't need anything to be a jungle girl. All the jungle girls I've ever read about ran around naked all the time. Believe me, you'd make a very fine jungle girl." Hal grinned and raised his eyebrows at her a few times.

"Ha! So you just want to see me naked!" Dinah laughed.

"Whatever gives you that idea?!" Hal asked indignantly as he leaned down and captured her lips in quick teasing kiss then he backed away as if to leave the tree house.

Dinah jumped up, grabbed his wrist, spun him back around kissed him fiercely. When she stopped they were both panting. Both were excited, but Hal's excitement was much more obvious given his current garb.

Dinah looked down then back up with a wicked grin. "I think I'm ready to play jungle girl with you, but I think I should have something to wear. What could I wear, I wonder? Oooh! I know! I'll just wear this!" Dinah yanked Hal's loincloth off with a giggle that turned into a gasp at the sight of his raging arousal.

Then, before they could continue their love play, both found themselves on their knees, holding their heads. It was as if some spell had been lifted. They felt more in control of themselves but they had no idea they had been under any kind of spell in the first place.

Dinah grasped at the truth first. "Hal? Is today, Clark's birthday? We're missing it, aren't we? Somebody wanted us to miss Clark's birthday? Seems very strange, but I don't like it. We have to go back."

"You mean we can't play jungle girl and boy for a little while first?" Hal whimpered.

"Hal! Something is wrong! We have to go back!" Dinah wanted to laugh, but the possibility of what was happening in their absence was too frightening.

Hal saw the last several days play in his head and agreed. "Were it anybody else and I would say they can wait til after we play jungle boy and girl, but this is Big Blue we're talking about. Something's most definitely wrong. We have to go back. But one thing I know is that I want to make us work more than anything I've ever wanted."

"Me too, Hal." Dinah kissed him again. He had been very sweet and considerate with her. Not at all pushy. She found that she was enjoying falling for him and watching the confident Hal be such a gentleman.

The two were on their feet. Hal quickly clothed himself. Enveloping Dinah in his power ring, he held her close then spoke to his ring. "Take us to the Javelin."

Within seconds they were blasting out into deep space and then they were making the jump to light speed.

******Earth******

In several cities across the United States as well as several other countries, heroes were feeling the sudden release from Circe's weak spell of forgetfulness. In every case the heroes grasped that they had somehow forgotten Superman's birthday party. Not all were extremely close with the Man of Steel, but all admired him and enjoyed his birthday parties.

Within minutes of Circe having to release control of the heroes on earth in order to focus on battling her foes on the moon, the tele-porters began lighting up as the heroes began tele-porting in.

******Surface of the Moon******

Maxima felt the weakening of the witch. She was exhausted but she knew she had to take back control of her body no matter the cost. She broke free from her chains easily. It was encouraging. It meant the witch was severely weakened and with her having freed herself so easily the witch would be coming to subdue her again. She only had to wait.

The wait was short. Within seconds of freeing herself Circe was attacking. Maxima fought fiercely and was pleased to see the sorceress's powers severely diminished. With a debilitating blow, Maxima floored her enemy and opened her eyes to see Wonder Woman, Donna, The Flash, Krypto, the Martian, the Hawkgirl and her four loyal bodyguards staring down at her. She was bound in a lariat and the Flash was holding the dagger that had been her undoing from the beginning.

Maxima knew the reason for the dagger. All the faces registered rage even the faces of the princesses, but both of them seemed to recognize that she was back in control because their looks of rage were instantly transformed into looks of relief and concern.

"Maxima! You've won!" Diana smiled.

"No. She is not dead or gone. She is too powerful for that, but she was severely weakened. I believe I have you all to thank for that," Maxima corrected.

"But you can stay in control now. Right?" Wally asked seeing that it was Maxima back in charge.

"For now at least. But she needs to be destroyed. I think the only way is to do as she has said. If you kill me with the dagger the witch will be no more," Maxima offered. She had been spoiled all her life, but she knew all about honor and sacrifice as well. Her parents had demonstrated a lot of both to her.

"No. We are not going to kill you, my friend. There is another way. We just need to locate my lasso. I know it is here on the surface of the moon. Once we have that we can force her from you and back into the dagger without harming you," Diana consoled her.

"I do not remember where she put it. I thought it was out here buried, but maybe I was mistaken. You may have to kill me. If it comes down to a choice, it would be better that the witch die than that I live, my friends," Maxima offered proudly.

"We'll find a way, Maxima. We promise," Donna reassured her.

The proud alien princess smiled back at her friends, then her body tensed and her eyes closed and her face went into a grimace. When her eyes opened again it was the gloating gaze of the witch once more. "There is no other way, fools! You will never find your little lariat again. It is kill your friend or be killed by your friend!"

******Superman******

Superman could make out the planets without his telescopic vision now. Within moments he was blasting past Saturn and then Jupiter. He shot out a thought to J'onn and was instantly answered. Understanding the problem he focused his telescopic vision once more, this time on the surface of the moon.

He was past Mars now. He smiled grimly as he locked on what he was looking for. Cutting down his speed, he skimmed over the surface of the moon with his right hand buried in the shallow layer of moon dust that covered the moon and baffled many scientists. His fingers closed around his prize.

Superman shot up into the thin atmosphere. Taking care not to destroy the surface, he landed next to Maxima and his friends with enough power to throw moon dust in all directions. Without waiting for greetings from his completely shocked but happy friends he kneeled down next to witch possessed Maxima, and wrapped her up with the burning lariat.

The witch shrieked in rage and defeat. "Nooo! You are dead! You will not defeat me! I had you and your little whore!"

Circe was shaking with fury, but then she began to laugh like a maniac, "You and all your friends were my little puppets! All of you! I made fools of you all! I will return one day! I will return to humiliate and destroy every last one of you! You and your children! I will spit and dance on your graves!"

Superman stared down at the raging and convulsing witch. He felt the desire to just reach down and snap her neck, but he knew he couldn't. It had to be the witch's doing. She just wanted them to kill Maxima. She wanted to have some consolation before she was defeated. She would not have it. They had found a way.

Diana was kneeling next to her again. This time she had the dagger in her hand. She placed the blade flat against Maxima's heart and grasped her lasso. Donna was kneeling with her as well and grasping her lariat. Both spoke in unison. "You will return to your prison. To refuse the pull of the lariat of truth is to be undone. You will return to your rightful prison or you will be destroyed. The choice is yours."

The shriek that came from Maxima's mouth was otherworldly. The princess's body convulsed as Maxima fought for control and then her chest glowed as the sorceress was slowly pulled, screaming, from her body and into the Olympian dagger.

Diana dropped the dagger in disgust and she and Donna hugged the freshly freed Maxima. She stood triumphantly and smiled at everyone. For the moment her haughtiness was gone. She was just glad to be alive and to be with the people she had learned to call friends. All were excited to see her safe and whole again. Only Kator was antagonistic at first but he had been unconscious for the last several minutes and so had missed the rescue. Once Shayera had filled him in he welcomed her gladly as well.

Diana found herself standing next to Kal. She looked at him questioningly. He looked very angry still. She thought she understood why. There was much that needed to be forgiven. And there was much that would never be forgotten. Diana gasped when Superman bent and retrieved the dagger. "Kal! No! Do not touch it! She found some way to infect Maxima!"

"I cut myself on the blade," Maxima explained. "That is how the cursed witch entered me."

"I'm putting the dagger where no one will ever find it again and where she will never escape. I should have done this in the first place. I just assumed that your goddess's prison would be a little more foolproof than that," Superman said quietly and grimly.

Diana and Donna didn't say anything for a moment. Finally Donna spoke up. "Where are you going to put it?"

Superman looked at Donna, then Diana. His eyes held Diana's for a moment as they shared a silent conversation. He gave both a weak smile then gestured for J'onn and Wally to join them. "I want you four to come with me. You'll see what I'm going to do."

Diana understood. "Then there's one more thing we need to take with us. Wait for me. I'll be right back." Diana sped to the elevator. She couldn't help but notice all the Leaguers staring down at them questioningly from the bay windows and from the docking bay. A few of the more powerful members had even ventured out to see if help was needed, but for the most part it seemed apparent to everyone that whatever the crisis had been, it was now over.

Diana hurried to her room. There she grabbed a cloth bag given to her by her mother when she was a girl. She had mainly used it for picnics as a child, but she remembered her mother saying it was unbreakable. She would have to remember to ask her mother to tell her the story again. Right now she just wanted something to carry the cursed lasso in so that it wouldn't touch her. Holding the bag she looked around her room and picked up her sword as well. Then she hurried to Wally's room.

The door was already open. "Thanks, Bruce," she smiled warmly at the camera over the door as she entered. She quickly scooped the false lariat up with her sword and placed it in the cloth bag. Then she was racing back to the elevator and speeding down to the surface of the moon.

By the time she was again with her friends she found that her heart was racing. It wasn't from the exertion. She knew it had to be from nerves. And she didn't have to touch her lasso to know it was not only being in such proximity to the false lasso, but also being so close to Kal again.

"I'm ready." She smiled through her head gear.

Donna smiled at her and took her hand. Krypto left Kal's side and came and pressed himself against her. She saw his hackles rise as he sensed the lariat in the bag, but he seemed satisfied that it was contained as he continued to press against her.

Kal caught her eyes once again. This time there was more tenderness than pain and anger. She realized the anger she had seen there before had not been towards her. He smiled gently. She smiled as well. She knew he remembered everything. But they would not speak of it now. It would have to wait.

Superman took a device from his belt armor. Speaking in his birth language he signaled for his Fortress to recognize the five of them. An instant later, the four heroes and Krypto were in the monitoring room of the Fortress. Superman led them to one of his armories.

Diana noted that they were far from his room, but just being back in the fortress brought back so many powerfully emotional memories. She wondered if Kal was also struggling. She was staring at his broad back when he turned around. His eyes looked a bit glassy. He avoided eye contact with her and motioned them all into the armory.

Once inside he set the Olympian dagger on the floor and gestured for Diana to do the same with the lasso. Diana scooped it out with her sword and placed it on the floor next to the dagger. Krypto growled savagely at it but stayed away while at the same time eyeing both Diana and Kal intently. Satisfied that nothing had changed, he was content to stay with them and not attack the lasso.

Superman retrieved a strange device from a vault that had not been visible until he touched it. It looked like a space gun, but almost too bulky to be practical unless it was used as some sort of mounted weapon. It was almost the truth. None of them had seen it before but both Diana and J'onn remembered Superman telling them stories of the Phantom Zone and the device his father had made to send Krypton's deadliest enemies into it.

Kal aimed the Phantom Zone projector at the dagger and lasso and fired the teleporting beam at them. The objects were instantly engulfed in an unearthly blue-white light and then they were gone.

"I'd like to see her escape from that," Superman growled.

"I think we are all safe from her now," J'onn agreed.

Donna nodded.

Diana and Kal made eye contact again. They and their friends and loved ones were once again safe. They were certain of it. But Circe had certainly toyed with and humiliated them enough while she had been in control. No words were spoken.

They all followed Superman back out of the armory and to his monitoring room. He looked at them all and smiled again. "Let's get back to our friends. We have a lot to be thankful for." He gave Donna a hug and clasped J'onn's hands. He turned to Wally and clasped his hand as well then pulled him into a quick brotherly hug.

"Anytime man. Just don't make me cry or anything. I'm trying to impress this girl…" Wallly trailed off. He was a bit glassy eyed himself. He smiled at his friends and they all shared a little laugh. It was what they needed to break the heavy feeling that hung in the air.

Kal then gathered a shocked Diana in his arms and for a very brief moment, held her close. "Thank you for being so strong. I broke free because of you. We have a lot to work out and deal with."

He kissed her hair then they disentangled slowly. Both were smiling and both were watery eyed.

J'onn didn't know all that had transpired yet, but he was guessing some of the truth.

Donna was openly crying and smiling at the same time.

Kal spoke once more to his Kryptonian computer and once again the five were tele-ported back to the moon. This time they materialized inside the Watchtower.

When they stepped down from the teleportation pads they were surrounded by their friends.

It was a warm feeling. There were lots of hugs and thank yous to go around. So many had fought hard to help.

Diana and Kal grabbed Wally again. Before he could protest he was being crushed in a fierce hug first by Diana then by Clark. Donna quickly joined them.

"Thanks, Wally. You saved the day today. We'll never forget it." Superman said, squeezing his shoulder lightly.

Wally was beaming, "It's no problem, man. You guys are my heroes. I'd do anything for…" Wally suddenly stopped and disentangled himself from the group hug. "Wait a second. This doesn't have anything to do with getting vibrated while you were en ze nude, does it. Cuz I swear, I meant nothing by it. It was a purely platonic vibrating. I don't want you reading anything into it."

Clark had been feeling the pain, guilt and anger over the events of the last few days and hours, but somehow Wally was still able to make him bend over double with laughter.

Donna was laughing as well. She grabbed Wally and kissed him fiercely. When she let go he simply starred at her dreamily. "That, Wally, is for being so amazing." She smiled sweetly at him and turned to talk with her sister.

Wally's dreamy look turned into a dreamy look with a smile then he crumbled to the floor unconscious and happy.

Clark was thanking Bruce and Zatanna, Nightwing, Megalina and the other bodyguards, the Hawks and J'onn. He knew all of his friends had gone through much and had fought hard to save them. He felt blessed beyond measure having so many good friends.

Then he spied Ollie making his way to the tele-porter. He moved quickly to intercept him while the rest of the late arriving Leaguers tried to stop and congratulate him on his birthday and find out what had transpired.

"Ollie." Clark reached out and touched his old friends shoulder.

Ollie stopped dead in his tracks. He felt terrified, but he decided he would be a man about the whole thing. Gulping, he turned around and faced Clark. "Listen, I know you want to kill me and you have every right to. I'm not even supposed to be here. So I just want to say that I'm really sorry. That sort of thing will never happen again. I'm here cuz I just wanted to help out in some way, not cuz I have a crazy death wish. I'm…"

"Thank you, Ollie." Superman interrupted him. "You helped save us. You helped save Bruce and Zee. I want you to know that I appreciate what you did. And I want you to know that I forgive you for what happened with Lois."

Ollie stared dumbstruck. "Clark…I don't know what to say. I've pretty much been a pig all my adult life. I see that now. I swear, I didn't know. I never meant to insult or humiliate you in any way. You're everybody's hero here. Including mine. I swear you won't regret forgiving me."

Clark took Ollie's hand in a firm shake. "I know I won't, Ollie. Thanks for coming for us. It took a lot of guts to do that against Circe. I'll never forget that either, my friend."

"Thanks, Clark. There's a good reason you're called Superman. I'll be seeing you soon I guess." Ollie was having trouble keeping his eyes dry and his voice from cracking.

Clark let him go. Just as Ollie disappeared off the tele-porter pad it lit back up as Adam, Alanna, Aleea, John and Kyle tele-ported into view. It was a little different when zeta beam technology was used. There seemed to be more of a shocking entrance. A little left over smoke with the new arrivals. Superman had always found it amusing and interesting.

All five looked very serious and ready for a fight. Before any explanations could be given they were loudly interrupted.

"Okay, what's going on here? Did we miss the party or a fight or both?" Hal was standing in the doorway with Dinah peaking over his shoulder at the large crowd.

_A/N:_

_Couple more chapters to wrap things up. Maybe only one. Thank you all for reading and a big thanks to those who take time to review._

_See you next chapter!_


	34. Chapter 34

The Birthday Present

Chapter 33

Sometimes nightmares come true. Sometimes good dreams come true. It's no different for Superheroes. I know what you're thinking, but no, Clark's nightmare is not speaking to a loud crowd naked. And no, having twenty cheesecakes for his birthday is not his most recurring dream, although it is a nice one. Or at least it would be if I had a super metabolism.

******Watchtower******

It did not take long for the barely averted disaster to turn into a full-blown celebration, especially with nearly every hero present. Everyone seemed to be talking at once. There was much excitement. The danger was over. The enemy was defeated. Everyone was physically in one piece. There was a lot of backslapping, hand shaking, hugging and laughing going on.

Superman enjoyed seeing his friends and fellow heroes so excited. It was not often that they could all come together and simply enjoy themselves. Birthdays were one of those few occasions. But today he did not share in their joy. Today he had to face the consequences of his actions while under the control of Circe. Now someone would be hurt no matter what he decided, but there really was nothing for him to debate. It didn't ease the pain or anger, though.

"I saw you speak to Ollie. You never cease to impress me, Clark. You really do embody your name."

Clark's focus came back to the present to find Batman and Zatanna standing behind him. He smiled warmly and embraced them both. "He came after us. You all came after us. You two, I expected it from. Ollie, not so much."

Clark straightened up, still smiling. Bruce was half smiling. Zatanna was beaming. "Might wanna tone it down there, Bruce. People might start getting creeped out, if they see you smiling like that."

Zee went into a fit of giggles.

Bruce, to his credit, continued to half grin. He couldn't help himself. Sure, he felt pathetically weak, but his friends were safe and no one had died. Victory had been theirs as it always was in the end. Except for Barry. That memory took the smile away for a moment. It seemed like so long ago…

"I'm sorry for what happened to you two. I wish I had just prevented this whole thing from the beginning," Clark confessed.

Zee was still smiling, but stopped as the memories of Circe coming to visit her in Maxima's body came flooding back. "It was terrible, but we were able to play a small role in saving you and capturing the witch. We've had our satisfaction."

"Everyone's in one piece and you and Diana are safe. We'll both be back to normal soon. It's a price I would be willing to pay a thousand times if it meant life for my friends," Bruce added. His eyes had a look of steel to them.

"I know you would, Bruce. Gotta run home. Need to see Lois." Superman smiled at his friends.

"Say no more. Go." Zatanna answered for the two of them.

Superman quietly removed himself from the throng of happy heroes, moved slowly towards the tele-porting pads then changed his mind. He would arrive almost as quickly just flying and he wanted to burn some energy. Switching direction, he headed for the docking bay.

******Wonder Woman******

Diana couldn't help but share a little of the excitement of her friends and fellow heroes. There was much to celebrate, but Circe had done her work well. The damage she had done could not be seen so much physically yet, but it would show soon enough, she was sure.

She noticed when Kal started moving quietly away from the group. She wanted to go after him, but knew he needed the space and he needed to deal with his emotions and mend the rift that had been created, against their will, with Lois. She hoped that all would be well with them, but she knew that it could not possibly be easy to overcome such a thing.

"Go talk to him before he leaves. Make sure everything is right between you two and that you're still friends. From the looks of it he might not be back for a while."

Diana turned to face her sister. "I suppose..." she responded with just a little uncertainty.

Donna smiled back, "Now don't let him leave without talking to him. Go." Donna pushed Diana in Superman's direction hoping for the best.

Diana moved quickly towards Superman's retreating form. She saw him change direction and head towards the docking bay. She followed him and caught up with him just as he was about to enter the elevator to head down to the surface of the moon.

"Kal?" Diana spoke his name quietly as the elevator opened. He turned to look at her with a smile, but she could read the turmoil in his eyes.

Moving towards her, he took her hand in his and looking her earnestly in the eyes, asked, "What is it, Diana?"

Diana wished she had not pursued him. The emotions she felt in his presence were very nearly overwhelming. She found it difficult to hold his gaze. "I wanted to say farewell and wish you the best in mending things with Lois."

Superman pulled her into a hug. It didn't last long, but it was fierce. It was a hug that said, "I love you" and "I'm sorry" both at the same time.

They separated with only their fingertips touching.

Diana spoke first. "You and I were under a very powerful spell. It pushed us to do things we would not have done in our right minds, under our current circumstances. Circe specializes in this sort of pain. We cannot let her win." Diana found it hard to look Kal in the eyes. She knew what she needed to do but the memories were so strong that a small part of her that very much wanted to let the witch win.

"Yes, we were under a very powerful spell, and I refuse to let her win. I just hate that she used me to hurt you and my wife. I'm sorry I wasn't able to prevent it, that I so easily became her weapon. That the people I care about the most were and are suffering the consequences of my actions," Superman replied. His eyes held hers fast.

"Our actions, Kal. We were both under her control. Neither one of us was screaming for mercy. We both participated," Diana reminded him sternly.

"You're right." Superman smiled. Both were staring at each other with resolve now.

"We make things right," Diana said with conviction.

"We do. I will," Superman agreed.

"Now go see Lois." Diana smiled and gave Kal a push towards the elevator.

"I'm going. Stop acting like it was your idea, Princess. Oh yeah, and if you see any witches while I'm gone… shoot, if you see any witches, period, run the other way, really, really fast. Like use your Hermes speed powers, fast." Superman grinned as he backed away from Diana towards the elevator.

Diana gasped, "Get out of here! Before I throw something at you!"

The last thing Diana saw was Kal's mischievous grin as he dropped out of sight down the elevator.

With that simple exchange, they were back to best friends. They now knew the passion each felt for the other. The memory of their lovemaking was burned forever in their minds and hearts, but it would be quite a while before either of them brought up their time together under Circe's control.

******Smallville******

Superman floated high above his home for several minutes. His parents and Lois were all there. His mother was in the garden. His father was at the south edge of the property checking on the fence. And Lois was sitting quietly in the loft. It was the perfect place and moment. He dropped down and entered the barn.

"Lois. It's me." He called out gently.

Clark caught the quiet gasp, the acceleration of her heart just before the sofa squeaked as Lois sprang up then appeared at the top of the steps staring down at him.

The look was one of panic. There was fear in her eyes and something else, something sad. Clark did not like seeing her like that.

He floated up to her and took her hand as she backed away slightly. "Lois? You're mind is back to normal, isn't it?"

"It is," she replied looking him back at him with resolve. "I know why you're here. Let me just say that I don't blame you and that I understand your decision perfectly. I always knew you two belonged together. I think everybody did…"

Clark interrupted her speech with a finger to her lips. "Hush, Lois. I didn't come to break up with you or leave you. I came to make things right. We have a lot to talk about, but neither one of us has been in our right minds for quite some time, I think."

Lois just stared at him for a moment, as the weight of his words settled in her mind. Then she crumbled into his arms, crying quietly. "I thought I'd pushed you away, that you had finally surrendered to your feelings for Wonder Woman; that you were disgusted with me for what happened. I'm pregnant!" She blurted out all at the same time.

Clark just listened as he held his sobbing wife softly to him. He again relived the pain and rage of seeing his wife in bed with another man, but her mind had not been her own. He knew that. She could not be held accountable for it. He had forgiven Ollie. He had forgiven his wife. He felt the stab of guilt of his time with Diana. They had also been manipulated. He would share all with Lois…what?!

"You're pregnant?!" he echoed back. He scanned her for a second and was even more shocked by what he saw.

"I am." She groaned. "I was not made to be a mother. Ever since I found out that we couldn't have children, I've wanted to, but just because I knew that I couldn't. But raising kids is not what I'm cut out for. I don't want to change diapers or nurse or buy baby clothes or any of that stuff!" Lois still had her face buried in Clark's chest as she bemoaned her fate.

Clark was still in shock. It explained the sadness in her. She wasn't mentally ready to be a mom and she had thought she would be alone. Slowly the shock gave way to excitement. He had wanted to be a father for some time. He had just recently begun to accept the fact that he never would be, that he and Kara were truly the last of their kind. And now his wife was pregnant!

He held Lois at arms length. He stared beaming into her tear stained eyes. The smile was contagious. Soon Lois was giggling uncontrollably as her body shook with relief at her husband's response.

Clark pulled her back in to a hug. "You'll make a wonderful mother. You'll see. And I'll be a pretty good dad too. I can cook. If one of the kids falls off the balcony I'll be able to catch them before they hit the ground. I'm great at juggling so they'll always be entertained. They'll have a farm to visit with lots of animals. I don't need to sleep much so it's not like I'll lose any sleep. It's going to be great!"

Lois kept giggling then suddenly stopped. "You didn't say what I'd be good at and why do you keep saying kids?"

Clark grinned. "Oh that. You'd be great to. Let's see. What could you do? Well, you could teach them how to catch a taxi, how to misspell words, how to match your clothes, how to order takeout, how to ignore advice, instructions, and requests…what else?"

Lois slapped his arm playfully. "Oh, shut up! Now why do you keep saying them?"

Clark scanned her again taking a closer look. Now he was really shocked. It didn't seem possible. "There's two there, definitely two. You're going to do just fine." He was just a little bit bewildered by what he saw.

"Twins?!" Lois didn't know what to say. She had never thought of herself as mother material, but since knowing she couldn't have children had become more curious and interested. But two! At the same time! It seemed too much too soon.

Lois was looking at him again, this time inquisitively. "Clark? Did you and Wonder Woman have…did you two…?" She trailed off not finishing the question in words but continuing to ask it with her eyes.

Clark held her gaze. He had planned on confessing it outright, but had been too shocked by what he'd just discovered to say anything. "We did." He answered honestly.

Lois' face turned ashen. "Because I told you to do it?" she asked in a whisper.

Clark pulled her to the couch and sat with her. "No; because of Circe. Not you. You are not to blame. It was part of her plan to humiliate and kill Diana. We were not ourselves, much like you were not yourself while under the control of that Max character."

"Oh," Lois slumped as she exhaled slowly and fixed her gaze on the floor. She felt a stab of pain in her chest. It paralyzed her for a moment then it was gone. There seemed to be some relief in her posture, but her greatest fear had been realized. "So then this is good-bye."

Clark lifted her chin until she looked him in the eyes. "You haven't been listening to me. I'm here to make things right, to honor my vows. I'm truly sorry for what happened. Neither Diana nor I would have ever chosen this in our right minds. I do love you, Lois. You're my wife. I promised to love you for better or worse. What just happened to us these last few weeks falls in the 'worse' category."

Lois was just staring at him now. She was crying and smiling all at the same time. Slowly, they melded into a hug. "You really are Superman," she sighed.

******Metropolis******

******Two Months Later******

Lois was looking quite large for only being two months along. She found herself walking into stores she had religiously ignored all of her life. At the moment she was looking at a baby carriage for twins. She was dying to buy the black one, but if they were girls she decided she would go with pink.

Still there was the possibility that there was one of each. She was aware that carrying twins caused one to increase in size more quickly, but she just felt wrong. It was still too early to see what she was having, but she was now much more excited about motherhood. She found herself wondering if and how early her twins would start flying. It would make mealtime, bath time and diaper changing even more challenging. She chuckled at the thought then winced and rubbed her chest. The pain disappeared not long after onset and she quickly forgot about it, left the store, and headed home.

******Watchtower******

Superman, Hal, Kator, and Diana teleported into the Watchtower from the planet Rann. Kator volunteered to give the report of their mission. He didn't mind staying on. His Shayera was already there and would be for the next shift. He planned to stay with her.

Hal was grateful. Writing reports had never been his strong suit. Diana and Clark also thanked Kator and moved off to their quarters.

Since the defeat of Circe, Clark and Diana had quickly fallen back into their roles of best friends, with one subtle difference. They made no physical contact. No hugs, no unconscious brushing against one another, no touching hands. The warmth was there. But they were both extremely careful to keep their relationship chaste in every way. At Diana's door they said good-bye. Clark headed back to the tele-porter and then on home to Metropolis.

******Four Months Later******

She was having one of each. That was exciting. But the boy was much larger than the girl, and now Lois was having a hard time getting around. Not that she was tremendously huge, although she was quite large for six months, but now she was in constant pain. The stabs of pain in her chest were much more frequent as was the discomfort in her ribs and bladder. She still hadn't decided on names and found that she couldn't concentrate to write stories much less travel to track down leads or do interviews.

She was currently sitting on her husbands lap while he fed her vanilla pudding, with strawberries all mixed in well in a large bowl with creamy peanut butter. She had to have it at least twice a day.

Clark was enjoying working at the planet more and babying his wife. He was a bit concerned though. Her heartbeat was just not the same, it could be due to the pregnancy but he still wanted to find out more. Her gynecologist hadn't thought there was a problem with Lois but had seemed a bit surprised with drastic difference in size of the babies.

An hour later, Lois was asleep in his arms. Clark listened with concern to her heart and labored breathing then focused in on the heartbeats of the babies. He was already calling the boy Jonathon and the girl Martha in his mind, but he would leave the final decision to Lois to accept or veto his choice.

Clark carried Lois into the bedroom and laid her sleeping form gently on the bed. He had started cleaning out his office to use as a nursery but Lois had said she wanted the babies in their room for a while at least. He smiled at the thought. It would be a bit crowded in there. It would do for a little while, but he would have to break down and build a home out in the country. He'd already purchased some land. Bruce had helped him with that.

Clark had amassed a considerable fortune in hand made diamonds. Bruce had invested a few for him and now they were doing quite well. Lois had not objected to moving to the country, but it was evident that she would prefer to stay in the crowded city. While he finished clearing out his office, he decided he would broach the subject once again with her when she woke up.

He was in the kitchen preparing to wash dishes when the transmission came through on his com-link. It was Dinah. She sounded concerned.

"Clark?" Oh, thank goodness! I'm so sorry to bother you! But Solomon Grundy is on a rampage. He's near Gotham, but Bruce is out of the country and this is out of his league anyway. J'onn is off planet, Captain Marvel is tied up. Hal is already there but he's having a hard time. Hal says he's not at all coherent and he seems to be exhibiting the same behavior as the Doomsday creature did. Could you give him a hand?"

"Tell Hal I'm almost there. He's going to be fine, Dinah," Clark assured her as he streaked through the sky to help his friend.

"Thank you, Clark," Dinah whispered in relief.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

Clark saw the glow of the battle first then zoomed in on the combatants. Hal was intact but he looked very worried.

"What's the situation?" He asked.

"My ring's not stopping him. It's working against him like it worked against Doomsday. He's just shrugging everything I throw at him like it was nothing," Hal informed him.

"Okay. So he came back tougher this time. Not good. No reasoning either?" Superman asked.

"Oh no. Just a lot of grunts and roars. His eyes just look really creepy this time. I didn't want to ask Shayera here. She seems to be able to get through to him normally, but I don't think this is a good time to test that," Hal responded.

******Metropolis******

Lois sat up suddenly. Her face was contorted in pain. One hand went to her belly while the other clutched spasmodically at her chest. The pain subsided for a second and she slid to the floor gasping for air.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

"You're right. Let's see if maybe Kator or Shayera will let us use one of their maces. Those seem to put him down just fine. No need to have a drawn out fight if we can take him out quick and minimize the disaster zone," Superman decided.

"Dinah, baby. Did you get that? See if you can tele-port us one of the Hawk maces. Tell them it's for a good cause. They like those." Hal winked at Clark.

"Already on it. Heard Clark. Shayera is sending her mace. I'm tele-porting it to your location now," Dinah answered instantly.

******Metropolis******

Lois was trying to reach her special phone, the one with the panic button for Clark, but found she could barely move. Another bout of unbelievable pain hit, causing her to writhe on the floor. When it was over she just lay there heaving praying it was all over.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

Superman and Hal sped out of the way in opposite directions as a giant boulder came speeding through the air.

"We'll hit him from both sides," Superman took command.

"You got it boss," Hal answered. He was visibly more confident now that his friend was there. "Be careful. He's a lot faster than normal this time around for some reason."

Both were streaking down on the behemoth.

Hal anchored Grundy's feet to the earth with his ring, then hit him behind the knees with a powerful blast of energy.

Superman came in high and slammed into him hard in the chest.

******Metropolis******

Lois was moving again. She army crawled to the dresser and pulled herself up sobbing. She had never felt anything like what she was experiencing. She hoped the babies would be fine. There it was. Clark had left the phone right next to her. All she had to do was hit any button. He would come running. She grabbed at it then collapsed once again to the floor as the phone skidded away from her grasp.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

The energy construct shattered.

Grundy roared and went flying backwards tumbling for several meters before crashing into the side of a hill. Superman landed and stood over the fallen monster checking for signs of life or movement.

"Mace is there." Dinah voice came over the com-links.

"Thanks…umphf!" Superman started to answer and was interrupted by a giant fist. He was taken completely by surprise by the creatures' quickness. Hal had not exaggerated about the increase in power. The creature was advancing with tremendous speed, obviously intent on destruction.

******Metropolis******

Lois lay very still, but she was fighting with everything she had on the inside. She could hear her own heartbeat thudding loudly but erratically in her ears. She was scared to move, but she had to reach the phone.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

Superman blurred to meet him, avoiding his swings as he attacked. He hit him in the ribs head and throat and the creature only stumbled then came back for more. He was confident he could beat it, but he really wanted to avoid as much destruction as possible.

"Hal. Have you located the mace? We could use it right now. This time he's not going down that easy." There was some urgency in his voice.

Grundy was rushing to crush Superman in a bear hug. Superman sped into his embrace and struck him with an explosive uppercut. The force of the blow sent the monster several meters into the air.

******Metropolis******

Lois rolled to a sitting position then started to pull herself up along the dresser. The pain that hit her in the chest pulled an involuntary groan from her. She collapsed to the floor, leaving nail marks in the dresser and in her own chest.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

"Here's the mace, Big Blue." Hal dropped the weapon from the sky into Clark's hands. Then created a giant circus net to catch Grundy as he fell back to earth.

"Grundy isn't really alive. And he's constantly coming back." Clark thought out loud.

"Yeah. That's Grundy." Hal responded with a grunt.

"Throw him in the air for me," Clark instructed.

"Oh, this oughta be fun." Hal guessed with a grin.

Hal encased the enraged monster in green ball of energy then willed a giant spring underneath him. Releasing the spring the monster was streaking into the sky before he had a chance to break free of the energy ball.

It didn't take the creature long to burst free of the energy barrier, roaring his dissatisfaction, but as soon as he was free of the green ball of energy he came face to face with the man in blue and red.

Superman struck him down from the sky with Shayera's energy mace. When the mace made contact with the beast there was an explosion of blue-white energy and the monster fell like a rock to the ground and lay still. Within seconds he crumbled to dust and was absorbed by the ground.

******Metropolis******

Her breathing was in long raspy gasps now. She was staring blankly at the ceiling. There was one more, long gasp and she exhaled for the last time as she left her earthly body.

******Outskirts of Gotham******

"Whoa! That was crazy! I hope he doesn't come back for a long time, but whenever he does, I hope he's in cute and cuddly mode next time." Hal joked.

Superman was floating down slowly, mace in hand. He smiled at the thought then chuckled. "Yeah, me too."

"It's over?!" Dinah's voice sounded hopeful.

"It is. Grundy has been neutralized. We're done here," Clark responded.

"Thanks, Big Blue. Pretty sure you just saved my bacon." Hal slapped Clark on the back.

"Glad I could help, Hal." Clark smiled. "I think I'll head on home. Why don't you deliver this back to Shayera and tell her I said thanks."

"Will do. Gotta let a certain pretty lady, baby me after this strenuous ordeal. You probably want to do the same." Hal grinned. "Dinah. You can bring me home now. I'll be needing lots of kisses."

"Locked on you, you big dork," Dinah giggled.

Superman waited until Hal had disappeared then he sped home. At first he didn't pay attention to the unusual quiet of the apartment. Then he realized he wasn't hearing the familiar heartbeat or breathing sounds. Lois had probably gone out to look at baby stuff again.

He peeked in the room with a knowing smile.

And his world shattered.

******Metropolis General Hospital******

******Twenty Minutes Later******

The medical staff could not remember the last time they had seen so many attractive people sitting in their emergency waiting room, or in any waiting room for that matter, at the same time. It was somewhat distracting for many of the staff, but the trauma team had ignored the comments and focused all their energies on bringing back the young mother and her twin babies.

They had quickly found that the mother was beyond their help. It looked as if her heart had burst. None of them had ever seen anything like it. The babies were likewise gone. They had gone too long without oxygen.

The Docs were amazed at the difference in size of the children, but more saddened that they had not been able to save any of the three. No one wanted to be the one to break the news to the husband and father.

******Waiting Room******

Clark and Kara heard the pronouncement. Kara nearly fell apart as she held her weeping cousin. The others knew instantly that the two of them had heard bad news. By the time the head surgeon came out to give them the bad news all of the pretty people had formed a circle around the tall dark haired man and the pretty, young blond girl.

They all parted for the Doctor as he approached the grieving Mr. Kent. The Doctor was amazed at the composure of the man as he received the devastating news. He was definitely stricken, but so often in such situations the ones grieving would lash out, sometimes verbally, sometimes physically, sometimes both.

Mr. Kent did neither. Instead, through eyes that continued to shed tears he had thanked him for doing all that he could and asked to see his wife once more. Dr. Sally did not think it a good idea but consented to allow him and the young blond that had not left his side to go in.

All the others in the room were whispering words of shared grief to the Mr. Kent, and most made some kind of physical contact with him. To Dr. Sally it seemed as if they were passing on some little bit of strength to their friend, and the concern and pain for their friend was quite moving.

Dr. Sally led them into the trauma room and stepped back into a corner to give them some privacy while keeping an eye on them. Too often the survivors of such traumatic events would themselves need medical help as their bodies tried to deal with the overwhelming emotional trauma of their loss.

The two had their backs to him so he could not see their faces. He thought they were whispering to each other but he could not be sure. If they were it was too low for him to make out.

"Clark…." Kara whispered as she clutched her beloved cousin tightly. She knew firsthand what it was like to see all that she loved ripped away from her. Clark had been a baby, but she had seen it, could remember the look on her mother and father's faces as they tricked her into her escape rocket and made her promise to take care of her little cousin just moments before injecting her with the hibernation formula. She had felt the caresses on her face and heard the tearful "I love you's" but she had already been too groggy to respond. Then she had been sealed in and shot off into space after her little cousin. With glazed eyes she had seen her planet start to break apart and then her ship had made the jump to hyper-space.

Kara was watching Clark closely. She was a bit confused by his first words.

"One was mine," he whispered.

"Hmmm? What do you mean one was yours? They were twins weren't they?" Kara whispered back concerned and curious.

"One was Ollie's," Clark whispered matter-of-factly.

Kara just stared at him in shock for a moment as his words sank in. "How is that possible?" she hissed back at him. She'd never heard of anything like that. "If she was pregnant from you then how did Ollie get her pregnant?"

"It was the other way around." Clark answered as if that would clear up all the questions.

"You're not making sense, Clark." Kara whispered as she hugged him closer.

"Look at the babies. Look close," Clark insisted.

Kara did. She looked close. It was hard to look at the still forms that had been full of life just minutes before. There was the obvious disparity in size. The little baby boy was quite a bit larger than the little girl, but that wasn't all. Both had a good head of hair. The little boy's was very much black. The little girl's hair was much lighter. Still that didn't mean too much to Kara. She was a blond and Kal-El had dark black hair. Looking deeper Kara focused on the cells, the nuclei, the DNA. Now she was really confused. The little girl was definitely human all around. She didn't know Ollie's DNA, she had no reason to, but she knew her cousins, and the little girl was definitely not his.

But what was completely confusing was the little boy's DNA. It was completely Kryptonian. Not half human half Kryptonian. How was that possible? He definitely belonged to Clark, but how did he belong to Lois? She looked up at Clark bewildered.

"I think I've finally figured it out." He whispered in response to her unspoken question. His hand moved gently over his wife's still form. "I'm going to miss you, Lois. I'm so sorry. Sorry for putting you through this. Sorry for taking away your chances at a longer life. Sorry I couldn't save you or the babies." He was crying silently again.

They stood there for a few more minutes then were escorted back to the waiting room.

They denied the medical staff permission to perform autopsies on the babies. J'onn was instrumental in convincing them to turn the bodies over for burial.

******Two Days Later******

******Hills of Peace Cemetary******

The minister had just finished a short and emotionally gripping message. The triple funeral had brought out many people. There were few family members, many friends and many fans of Lois' work.

The minister commended the spirits of the young mother, Lois, and her two babies into the hands of the angels. He spoke of the great pain of death that we all must suffer. He spoke of our only hope. And he pronounced ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Clark was grateful that his minister had traveled all that way for them. He was grateful for the support of all his friends. He hugged Lois's parents and little sister close.

Diana, Bruce and Arthur had all contributed to reserving a Hall for a thank you dinner from the friends and family. Within a couple of hours of the service and burial, everyone was there.

Clark found himself surrounded by Kara, Diana, Wally, Donna, Bruce, Zatanna, Dick, Babs, Hal, Dinah, Arthur, Mera, Kator, Shayera, J'onn, Booster and John Henry. Most of the others spoke to him as well but would move on. The conversation eventually came around to the question of how and why Lois had died so suddenly.

They had all heard what the cause of death was but wanted to know why.

"I do know why, but I just need a little more time before I share it. It's too fresh," Clark had answered.

It had been enough for his friends. Slowly they had moved on, some going home, some to other duties. Four hours later, only a handful of people remained. Cleanup was quick and two hours later the Hall was again dark and quiet.

A small group walked with Clark and his parents a short distance to his apartment.

Diana gripped Clark to her. "You need anything, you let me know, Kal. It aches to see you in such pain. I am sorry for your horrendous loss."

Clark held onto Diana for a few minutes. He found just being with her was calming and his grief easier to bear. "I will, Diana, and thank you," he whispered softly.

Clark hosted his parents, Kara and Connor that night. The next night they all spent it on the farm. It was several months before the subject of how and why Lois died came back up as well as the mystery of the babies.

******Six Months Later******

******Star City******

"Mr. Queen. Everyone for your 11:00 am appointment is here, sir," Ollie's secretary informed him.

Ollie was nervous. This was not a surprise visit. It was planned. But he hadn't seen much of Clark since the defeat of Circe and even less since Lois had passed away. He had heard that she was pregnant when she died and that had really scared him. After Superman having made peace with him, he had feared the worst. But there had been no retaliation from Superman. The few times they had run into each other Superman had been kind to him. As his five friends and teammates filed into his office he couldn't help but feel like he was on trial, but none of the looks were accusatory. That was comforting.

He shook hands with each of the six. They shook his hand warmly and all but Bruce and J'onn gave him a hug, but then those two weren't big huggers anyways. Ollie remembered to be on his best behavior and controlled his natural desire to hang onto the pretty ladies a little longer than normal. He behaved wisely. Something he had been doing more and more of lately.

They all sat down.

"It's great to see you all," Ollie started rather nervously.

"And it's good to see you, Ollie," Clark stated kindly. "I requested this meeting with you, Kara, Diana, Bruce, Zee, and J'onn to share some information that is important and that I think you should all be aware of."

Ollie was even more nervous now, but he noted that the rest of the group seemed to be just as much in the dark as he was with the possible exception of Kara.

"I'll get right to the point. As you all know, Lois was pregnant when she died. She was carrying two babies, a boy and a girl. But they weren't twins. The girl was yours Ollie and the boy was mine," Clark said matter-of-factly.

Everyone in the room had a look of shock on their faces, except Kara and Ollie. Kara looked like things were making a little more sense but she was still confused as to how it could be. Ollie didn't look shocked or confused. He looked horrified.

"N…n…ow…now, Cl…ark. Listen. I swear, I didn't…" Ollie stammered out. He was already feeling woozy.

"I know, Ollie. I know. That's over with. I'm sharing this with you all because I think it's important that you all hear it. I think you need to know that you were almost a father, Ollie, and I think it will help me move on as well. I've given this a lot of thought and researched it quite a bit at the Fortress. I'm pretty sure I know what happened now," Clark answered reassuringly.

Everyone was on the edge of his or her seat at that point.

"Ollie, you got Lois pregnant while she was mind controlled by that Williams/Lord character."

Ollie sank back into his seat as if trying to hide from everyone's gaze.

Clark continued, "None of us knew at the time of course. A couple weeks later I came under the control of Circe, as did most of us here. We all know her goal was for me to humiliate and kill Diana. She almost succeeded, and might have if not for each one of you here and some of our other friends. However, before my birthday party, before I arrived and took off so obediently to do as the witch commanded, I went my parents home. Lois was there. She was still under the control of Maxwell Lord. I was under the influence of the witch. We had been sexually intimate several times since reconciling after the incident at the hotel. Lois was aggressive about it."

Clark looked around, everyone was paying rapt attention, he continued, "So it was very natural for us to be so on my farm. We were having another moment of intimacy when I came under the control of some red kryptonite that she had in her hand. You all know what kind of affect that has on me. So now I had even less inhibitions. Just as I was becoming a little more sexually aggressive than what I allow myself to be with her, we were hit by lightening. It hit me, the red k ring then Lois. It altered her. Made her not only powerful like me but actually temporarily altered the genetic makeup of her ova. Being intimate with me caused her to ovulate. I don't want to get to graphic here, but it seems that the physiological change to her body and my, um…sperm altered her ova so that the union of ova and sperm produced an egg that was fully Kryptonian! I don't think this would have been the case normally."

Clark saw the light go on for Kara, and he could see that Diana was starting to make sense of it all. Her face was a mix or surprise and sadness. All the others were listening intently. He continued, "Her physiological change mixed with our sexual passion overrode her normal biological protective measures and our intimacy caused her to ovulate even though she shouldn't have. Apparently a Kryptonian male fully powered by a yellow sun will cause a woman to ovulate whether or not she's pregnant. So now she was pregnant from two different men. By the next day she knew she was pregnant from me, but then she had reverted back to her normal physiology after conceiving. Now she was carrying a Kryptonian baby. Her heart was weakened from having been powered up unnaturally and spending so much time doing, well, you know."

"She was constantly rubbing her chest, but I had passed it off as stress from being pregnant. She'd never been pregnant before and I'd never experienced that before either. I know she wanted to become super powered so that she could satisfy me intimately, and ultimately she was and she did, but unbeknownst to us it cost us her life and the lives of the babies."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they drank it all in. Zee finally broke the silence. "So what you found out was that you have a fertility inducing power. If you're in heat then you cause any woman around you to go into heat and ovulate! That is a seriously sexy power, Clark. Lois must have been fertile all the time hanging with you!"

Kara went into a fit of giggles along with Zee.

Wonder Woman stared at Clark with a question in her eyes.

Clark chuckled.

Ollie smiled weakly and J'onn and Bruce showed no change of expression. They seemed to still be processing the information they'd heard previously.

Clark looked serious again. "So it was me. I killed her. Not Circe. Not Mr. Lord. Me. I didn't know it, but I did it."

There was no more giggling.

"You cannot blame yourself, Kal. You could not know." Diana tried to console him from across the coffee table as she brushed his hand with hers in a rare display of physical affection since his birthday party.

Clark didn't move his hand away. He looked her in the eyes and smiled. "I know. I'm not killing myself over it any more, but the truth is that is why she is dead. It seems that there isn't much that I could have done even knowing what I know now, although there is a possibility that I could have saved the babies, but Lois' heart was bound to give out. The pregnancy just sped up the process."

They all sat quietly for a few minutes. All were lost in their thoughts. All hurt for their friend.

Once again, Clark broke the silence. "So I wanted to clear up that mystery for you all. Ollie I wanted you to know that you were going to be a father and that I hold no ill will towards you. I want you to feel free to visit the grave of your daughter. I forgave you months ago. We are friends."

Ollie sat up straight, his eyes were wet and he smiled thankfully at Clark. "Thanks, Clark. Thank you for telling me, for forgiving me and for giving me another chance. I'm so very sorry about everything…," he trailed off unable to continue speaking.

"Your welcome, Ollie." Clark and Ollie stood and clasped hands.

Minutes later the meeting was over.

Ollie's friends went home.

Ollie stayed in his office until a little after lunch then went home early. He sat in his living room until late into the night wondering what kind of dad he would have made and what kind of dad he would want to be.

Slowly, his thoughts went to the kind of man that Clark was. He had said they were friends. After all that had happened, Clark had forgiven him. He was a true friend. This line of thought took ultimately made him think of Hal.

Hal had tried to speak with him on several occasions, trying to make amends, hoping to save their friendship. But Ollie would not have any of it. He felt deeply ashamed now. Hal had always been a good and dependable friend. He had definitely changed since developing a relationship with Dinah. No more adventures. The man was keeping his word and Ollie had never seen Dinah happier.

Ollie swallowed the lump in his throat. If the most powerful member of the League, and quite possibly the universe, could swallow his pride and anger and forgive the man who had slept with his wife, then he did he think he was?

Mind made up, Ollie picked up the phone and called Hal. He didn't know how things would turn out, but he knew he was done treating his long lost friend like dirt.

******Six Months Later******

******Watchtower******

It had been a fairly quiet year for the heroes. There had been no alien invasions, no planet-wide plots of mass destruction. The attacks had been localized and dealt with very quickly and decisively. The League had finally taken a public stand against genocide and given an ultimatum to the perpetrators of the atrocities being committed. Some of the heroes were not soldiers and so had issues with using deadly force. Others did not.

The Thangarians and Atlantians took charge of protecting the villages in the states where the genocide was occurring. In short order the leaders had been killed and the survivors realized that they would not win.

Superman stood in the hanger bay staring down at earth. He was proud of his friends and teammates. Glad that they were finally doing something to bring peace to so many victims. Glad that their enemies from distant stars had seen fit to leave them in peace for so long. He knew it wouldn't last, but he knew that no matter what the challenge, that he and his friends would be ready.

He found that he could think about Lois without the suffocating pain anymore. In fact, he could think of her with a smile now. He would always remember her. He would always love her, but he had healed. He had moved on.

"Kal?" It was the voice he had always loved.

Superman turned with a soft smile to greet Diana. She was standing nervously behind him.

She smiled back. "You are alright?"

Clark walked up to her and took her hand. "I am. I'm fine."

"I was going to invite you come eat. Kyle has made some sandwiches for everyone," Diana invited as she pulled him gently after her.

Clark pulled back. Diana looked a little confused. The look of rejection cast its shadow over her face, but Clark pulled harder; her pulled her right into his arms. "I don't like Kyle's sandwiches. He uses nasty lettuce. He's very good at art but he should stay away from food." He had Diana so close that she was forced to look up at him. He captured her eyes with his and saw in them a hopeful glimmer.

"Kal…that is not very fair to Kyle. He is trying to learn…umph!"

Clark cut her off with a kiss. It was a quick kiss, but only a first kiss. He pulled away for a second and whispered, "I know, but I have a counter proposal." He was grinning wickedly.

"A…a count…counter pro…what do you have in mi…umph!"

Clark kissed her again. He was enjoying this. He was enjoying feeling Diana so close to him again. He was enjoying her smell, her feel, her presence.

He waited until she was kissing him back then he stopped again, and just stared down at her.

"Kal? What are you doing?!" Diana was completely off guard and confused. But he could hear the excitement in her heartbeat, in her pulse.

"I'm kissing you and offering you a counter proposal to eating nasty sandwiches in the cafeteria. I'll stop kissing you if you don't like it, but I do hope you'll take me up on my offer." Clark shot back with a grin.

"You are inviting me out to eat?" Diana asked perplexed. They had grown closer again over the last several months. The touching had slowly returned, but she had been careful to give Kal space. The last several weeks she had seen some of his humor returning as well his more relaxed less intense nature. She had missed it and she had found herself longing for more with him.

"I am. I'm inviting you out on a date. I love you. Always have. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. Can I kiss you again, pretty please?" Clark teased.

Diana's heart stopped. She stood frozen for a moment. "You are? Yes you may kis…umph!"

Clark kissed her again. They kissed for a long time. When they stopped they were both panting and smiling. Diana's eyes were a bit wet.

"I do too," she whispered.

"You do to what?" Clark asked.

"Love you. I love you too. And I could not imagine spending my life with anyone else," Diana replied.

They kissed some more. They found it very natural. The memories of his birthday of a year ago came crashing back in full force.

"It was your birthday a week ago," Diana panted.

"Why thank you, Diana. I had almost forgotten about it," Clark answered with a sarcastic grin.

Diana giggled. "It was a nice party."

Clark smiled. "Yes, it was."

"But I didn't give you your birthday present," Diana whispered huskily.

Clark wasn't smiling anymore. He was just overwhelmed with physical desire. "No, you didn't," he whispered just as huskily.

"Would you like your birthday present?" Diana whispered, backing away.

"Yes, I would. I would very much, thank you, please." Clark pursued her and pulled her back into a scorching kiss.

"O…o…okay," Diana gasped. "Then let us head down to your Fortress. We can eat there."

Clark scooped her up in his arms, tearing a yelp from her lips. "Yes we should and we can. We'll eat very well in my Fortress." He pressed a button on his belt. It scanned him and Diana and a moment later they materialized inside his Fortress near the kitchen. They were just staring at each other, Diana still scooped up in his arms.

He sat her on his counter so that she was straddling him and began kissing her again.

After a few minutes he stopped to let her breathe, while they pressed their foreheads together.

"Kal?"

"Yes?"

"Remember what you said about you causing females to become fertile?" Diana asked.

"Yes."

"Why do you think you did not get me pregnant last year?" Diana finally asked the question that had been gnawing at her for so many months.

"I don't know, maybe because of the spell or because it takes a lot more lovemaking to get you pregnant." He grinned and raised his eyebrows several times suggestively.

Diana giggled, then was thoughtful.

"Would you like to try and have children one day?" Clark asked.

She looked him straight in the eyes, and answered without hestitation. "Yes. With you. One day."

"It's settled then. We need to go see your mother and my parents," Clark advised.

"Yes. I think we should as well. I think they should approve first before we get married," Diana agreed weakly.

"Diana, would you marry me?" Clark asked her between kisses.

"Yes, Kal. I would marry you." Diana couldn't stop smiling.

"Good. I like that answer. Now where were we? Oh yes! You were about to give me my late birthday present," Clark gloated.

Diana kicked off her boots and pulled him back to her with her feet and hands, "Happy birthday, my sweet Kal."

Her sweet Kal began divesting himself of his uniform and helping her with hers. In seconds they were pressing their naked, on fire bodies to each other in unbridled passion when a powerful blur of white bowled them both over and began licking their faces.

Diana was laughing.

"Krypto! Not now! Can't you see I'm getting my birthday present?!"

Never the End

_A/N_

_A big thank you, to my friend and fellow SM/WW fan Hellacre betaing for me._

_Thank you to all who waited patiently and impatiently. Everyone who has taken time to write a review, thank you much. Reviews are always cherished. Let me know what you think now that the story is done. The story wasn't abandoned just wasn't able to get back to it for quite a while. Hope you enjoyed it. It was a blast to write._

_I'll be focusing all my writing time on Breathless now, another story that was never abandoned just set aside for a bit. Hope to see you all there!_

_Toodles!_


End file.
